PMD: Wildfire
by ZiraDakota
Summary: A Human-turned-Pokémon named Zira joins a rescue team and, with their help, must collect a number of powerful artifacts and find a way to avert a crisis that could wipe out all life on the Pokémon world.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

A Grovyle and a Golduck walked through a lush forest on the continent of Andara as they carried out their security patrol. It was tedious, low-paying work, but it was often all they could get. Having just formed a rescue team, they travelled to the eastern frontier of the Andaran Federation, thinking that there would be a great need for rescue teams on the edge of civilization. The competition, however, turned out to be far greater than they realized and they had fallen on hard times.

"We're almost out of money," Cyril the Grovyle said. "These patrols and what few E and D-rank jobs there are just aren't bringing in enough to keep us afloat."

"It'll be all right," Lance the Golduck replied. "We can't be too far off from bronze rank. After we're promoted, we'll have access to better jobs."

"I don't think we can hold out that long," Cyril stated. "Besides, the competition is just as fierce for the C and B-rank jobs." He stopped walking and sighed. Looking down at the ground, he kicked a pebble at his feet, sending it skipping along the path before them. "I can't believe I actually thought it was a good idea to start a rescue team all the way out here in the middle of nowhere. I should've known it would end badly. What a disaster."

"You had good intentions," Lance said. "And for what it's worth, I thought it was a good idea at the time too. We just need to keep doing what we can and hope our luck changes."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Cyril said. He took a moment to observe his surroundings. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but there were ominous storm clouds on the horizon moving their way.

"Looks like we've got a storm rolling in," Lance noted.

"Yeah… looks like it's going to be a bad one." A bright orange light in the distance suddenly caught Cyril's attention. "Did you see that?" he asked as he reached into his bag and pulled out a monocular. After peering through the scope for a moment, he handed the monocular to Lance. "Looks like some kind of rift. What do you think?"

Lance observed the anomaly through the scope, but before he could say anything, a massive white and blue Pokémon flew low overhead towards the anomaly, startling both himself and Cyril.

"A Lugia!" Lance exclaimed. "There's a Pokémon you don't see every day."

"It's headed for the rift!" Cyril said as he started to jog towards the anomaly. "Come on! Let's check it out!"

"That's way outside of our patrol perimeter," Lance noted as he jogged alongside the Grovyle. "Cale's going to want answers when we get back."

"I think he would approve of this diversion," Cyril said, attempting to reassure his teammate as well as himself. _Gods, I hope I'm right about that._

* * *

At the site of the spatial rift, hurricane winds generated by the rift wreaked havoc on the surrounding area, stripping trees of their leaves and snapping branches or uprooting them entirely. Nearly a minute after the rift formed, a female Human-turned-Charmeleon was violently expelled from the rift, wide-eyed and screaming as she quickly approached the ground. Landing harshly on the forest floor, she rolled over several times before coming to a stop on her side with the wind knocked out of her. The wind continued to buffet her body for several more seconds before the rift finally collapsed.

After a few minutes, the exhausted Charmeleon turned herself onto her belly and pushed herself up so that she was standing on her knees. She regretted this action almost immediately as a wave of nausea fell upon her, causing her to vomit. After she finished unleashing the contents of her stomach upon the ground, the Charmeleon realized that there was something not quite right about her body.

 _What happened to me?_

The Charmeleon looked down at her clawed hands. Her eyes slowly scanned up her red left arm towards her shoulder, then from her chest down to her white belly. She gently stood up, not wanting to aggravate her nausea. Looking down, her legs had changed significantly as well, taking on the same red color as most of her body and changing to a digitigrade configuration. Her eyes finally came to rest on her clawed feet.

 _What have I become?_

The Charmeleon slowly walked forward to test her new legs. She immediately stopped when she felt a part of herself dragging along the ground. The Charmeleon glanced behind her, noticing that she now had a tail… with an intense flame burning at the end of it!

"Shit! Shit!" the Charmeleon screamed. Now in a state of total panic, she grabbed her tail and started slamming the tip of it into the ground. Realizing that the flame wasn't going out, the Charmeleon quickly looked around for a water source to put out the flame. Her eyes came to rest on a depression in the ground filled with water, which she quickly ran over to with her tail still in hand. Just as the Charmeleon was about to submerge the flame, a powerful force suddenly yanked her backwards, causing her to fall onto her back.

 _What just happened?_ the Charmeleon wondered as she lay dazed on her back. The sudden movement and the resulting impact threatened to aggravate her nausea, but she was able to resist vomiting this time. As she stared up at the sky, the head of a large, white and blue creature moved into her field of view. The Charmeleon froze in fear as she stared into the emerald-green eyes of the enormous creature.

"I suggest you refrain from putting out your tail's flame," the Lugia said in a soft female voice. "It's a normal function of your body and necessary to sustain your life." As she finished speaking, her eyes suddenly began to glow blue.

The Charmeleon could feel the same force from before gently lift her off the ground. It was a most unusual experience, feeling the strange force caress her body as it reoriented her to a standing position and set her down softly on her feet.

 _Telekinesis? What else is this creature capable of?_ the Charmeleon wondered. At this point, the Charmeleon became aware of the fact that she was standing nude in front of another person. She used her hands to cover the area between her legs the best that she could.

"There's no need to be shy," the Lugia said. "As you'll soon discover, few Pokémon bother with clothing. You are Human, yes?"

"H-how did you know?" the Charmeleon asked, moving her hands to her sides as she relaxed.

"All the signs are there," the Lugia replied. "The unusual shyness that you displayed a moment ago. Your attempt to put out your tail's flame as though your life was in danger. And then, of course, there's your grand entrance." The Lugia looked around at the damage caused by the rift. "When I saw that rift, I couldn't resist the urge to get a closer look. It was truly a spectacular sight!"

"At least you didn't have to fly through it," the Charmeleon said as she rubbed the back of her neck. She was lucky that the landing left her without any serious injuries. "If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

"Gods, where are my manners?" the Lugia said with a bright smile on her face. "My name is Athena. And who might you be?"

"The name's… uh, my name is…" The Charmeleon's mind drew a blank. How could she have forgotten her own name?

"You've lost your memories," Athena stated with a note of sympathy in her voice. "That seems to be a common problem for Humans who come to our world. However, the memory loss usually isn't permanent. I might be able to dig up your name at least."

Athena's eyes glowed once more. At the same time, the Charmeleon could feel a powerful, yet gentle, presence enter her mind. The Charmeleon remained motionless, looking straight into Athena's eyes. After a long moment, Athena's eyes returned to normal as she terminated the psychic link.

"Your memories of the Human world are largely intact, though there are a few gaps," Athena said. "Your memories of personal identity, however, are severely damaged. Even with a stronger mind probe, I doubt I would be able to retrieve much, and I'm a powerful psychic."

The Charmeleon was deflated by this news. "So it's hopeless? Can't you try a stronger mind probe?"

Athena shook her head. "The stronger the mind probe, the more painful and dangerous it becomes to the recipient. I'd rather not do that unless absolutely necessary. However, while I was in your mind, I was able to come up with a word that seemed to be ever present: Zira. I believe that's your name."

"Zira…" the Charmeleon said quietly. The name seemed strangely familiar despite her damaged memory. The more she thought about it, the more it sounded right. "My name is Zira."

Athena smiled warmly. "Pleased to meet you, Zira."

The sound of thunder caught the attention of both Pokémon, drawing their gazes towards the menacing storm clouds that were rolling in. The wind was beginning to pick up speed as well. It wouldn't be long before it started to rain.

"It's time for us to part ways," Athena said. She pointed east with one of her massive fingers. "About three hours walk that way, you'll find a settlement where you should be able to get some help, but I suggest you seek out shelter first. The coming storm looks like it'll be a bad one and a fire-type such as yourself doesn't want to be stuck in it." Athena spread out her wings and leaped into the air. She looked down at Zira one last time as she hovered in place. "I hope we'll meet again someday!"

"Wait!" Zira screamed as Athena adjusted her direction. "Please don't leave me!" But her plea was of no use. She watched helplessly as the Lugia sped away from her with a few quick flaps of her wings.

All alone now, Zira dejectedly walked back to the pool of water where she had attempted to extinguish her tail's flame. Crouching at the water's edge, she could see her reflection on the calm surface from which a pair of sharp, sapphire-blue eyes stared back at her. Zira brought her hands up to her face, rubbing them over the surface of her new snout. She then brought a hand around to the back of her head where she could feel a single horn sticking out the back of it.

 _Why did this happen to me? Why can't I remember who I am?_

Zira prodded her broken mind for answers, for anything that might explain her current predicament, but no matter how hard she tried to remember, nothing useful would come to her. Tears began to stream down her face. She had no memory of her past and no knowledge about the world that she was now in. It was all too much. She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried not to cry.

Wiping away the tears, Zira noticed that the tip of her tail was resting to her right. Her despair giving way to curiosity, Zira grasped her tail and held the tip in front of her. As she stared into her tail's flame, Zira couldn't help but admire its beauty.

"I guess it's just you and me now," Zira said. For better or for worse, this flame was now a part of her. It was curious, however, that the flame didn't seem to cause her any discomfort. Athena had mentioned that she was a fire-type. Perhaps that made her resistant to the effects of fire. To test the theory, she brought her other hand up to the tip of her tail and slowly moved it into the flame. Not only did it not burn her hand, it actually felt quite pleasant.

A loud crack of thunder pulled her attention away from the flame to the sky above. The storm clouds were now directly above her and the wind was continuing to pick up speed. With a sense of urgency, Zira stood up and started jogging in the direction that Athena had pointed in earlier. With luck, she would find shelter before the storm fell upon her. Luck, however, was not on her side.

Zira didn't get far before rain began to fall heavily. The rain droplets felt like icicles impacting against her skin. She was more worried, however, at what the rain might do to her tail's flame. Just how resistant was her flame to rainfall? Glancing behind her, she noticed that her flame was flickering wildly from the onslaught of rain.

After about thirty minutes, it became obvious that she was in trouble. Zira panted as she continued to jog. Her throat burned and her legs ached from the exertion. At this point, she was desperate to find shelter. As Zira scanned her surroundings, her eyes spotted what appeared to be an entrance into an unusually dense patch of vegetation. Hoping that it might provide cover from the rain, she ran over to investigate.

As Zira approached the entrance, she noticed that the scenery beyond the opening appeared to be shimmering slightly, as though there was a layer of water between her and what lay beyond. Zira reached out with her right hand, passing it through the entrance, which reacted to the intrusion by shimmering wildly around her wrist. Zira expected the shimmering entrance to feel like water, given its appearance, but it instead felt like a frigid wind. Zira pulled her hand back out and stared at it, seeing that it was unharmed.

 _That's absolutely bizarre._

Walking into the anomaly was certainly risky, but Zira's curiosity was overpowering. Besides, she desperately wanted to get out of the rain. Her skin felt like it was covered in ice. Taking a deep breath, Zira stepped into the shimmering entrance.

Zira's entire body was hit with a blast of icy wind as she stepped into the anomaly. After a brief moment, she found herself in a clearing, surrounded by trees and vegetation so thick that it seemed to form a room. Sunlight shone through the thick canopy as though the storm raging above didn't exist.

 _What in the world is going on here? How is this even possible?_

As grateful as she was to be out of the storm, Zira found the eerily calm scene around her disturbing, enough so that she would rather take her chances with the storm outside. She turned around to leave, but the entrance had vanished.

"Shit," Zira whispered. There was nothing to do now but press onward and hope that there was another way out. Turning towards the corridor to her right, she noticed a stick at her feet that looked like a crude spear. Thinking it would be handy to have something to defend herself with, she picked up the stick and proceeded down the corridor.

As Zira made her way through the corridor, she noticed that she couldn't hear the sounds of wildlife or feel the wind blowing. Combined with the odd entrance, the strange layout of the forest, and the vanishing storm above, Zira became convinced that she was stuck in an anomaly of some sort. Exactly what that anomaly was, she could only guess.

After several minutes, Zira walked into another room. It was much like the previous room, except this one had a flight of stairs in the center of it leading up to a shimmering spot in the air.

 _Now I've seen everything,_ Zira thought as she approached the stairs. This place was getting weirder by the moment. Standing at the base of the stairs, Zira looked up at the shimmering spot, seeing what appeared to be another wooded area on the other side. Hoping that she'd found a way out of the anomaly, Zira quickly walked up the stairs.

After passing through the shimmering layer, Zira found herself in another room. A quick look around revealed another set of stairs just twenty meters away. Zira couldn't hold back her disappointment that the stairs didn't lead her out of the anomaly.

 _I should've figured it wouldn't be that easy. I wonder how many floors this place has._

A growl from behind sent a shiver down Zira's spine. Turning around, she saw a purple quadruped with large ears and spikes on its head and back staring at her. It bared its teeth and growled once more as she made eye contact with it. Zira brought the tip of her spear to bear on the aggressive Nidorino.

As Zira slowly walked backwards towards the stairs, the Nidorino charged at her. Zira prepared to dodge as she tightened her grip on the spear, the tip still aimed at the Nidorino. At the last moment, she sidestepped to the left, driving the tip of the spear into the attacking Pokémon's shoulder. The force of the impact snapped the spear in half and knocked Zira off of her feet.

The Nidorino unleashed a bloodcurdling scream as it fell to the ground with half of the spear embedded in its shoulder. Zira quickly got back onto her feet, discarding what remained of the spear. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two more Nidorinos enter the room. Upon seeing her, both of the newcomers charged towards her. Realizing that this was a battle she couldn't win, Zira bolted for the stairs.

Scrambling up the stairs to the next floor, Zira once again found herself in another room. Fearing that the Nidorinos might chase her up the stairs, she immediately ran for one of the corridors leading out of the room. Zira berated herself internally for not noticing the first Nidorino sooner and for losing her spear in the resulting fight. That was a costly mistake, one that she couldn't afford to make again. Without the spear, all she had left were her claws and she wasn't sure how effective they would be. As she approached the next room, the sound of people talking reached her ears.

 _Talking? I'm saved!_

Zira joyously ran into the room towards a group of three Pokémon. They appeared to be discussing something when one of them, a large, green reptilian with a fern-like tail took notice of her.

"Hey, Galen," the Sceptile said, addressing a green-eyed Charizard. "We've got company."

The other two members of the group glanced in her direction. Galen walked towards her, followed shortly by the others.

"Well, what do we have here, boys?" Galen asked.

"It looks like we have ourselves a lost Charmeleon," the Lucario said. "A pretty one too."

Galen and the Lucario stood in front of Zira while the Sceptile moved around behind her. Zira was surrounded.

"Uh… any chance you guys could help me get out of this place?" Zira asked, now feeling very uneasy.

"Maybe," Galen said. "Tell me, what are you doing walking through a dungeon in the frontier without so much as a travel bag?"

"Dungeon?" Zira asked, now totally confused. "Is that why this place is so strange?"

"You… don't know what a mystery dungeon is?" Galen asked. He seemed to ponder something for a moment before arriving at a conclusion. "You're a Human," he said, taking a step towards her. "That disturbance in the forest… that was you!"

Zira's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. Alarm bells were ringing loudly in her head. What was Galen getting at?

"The look on your face is all the confirmation I need," Galen said. "I just have one more question. Do you know any moves?"

Zira blinked. "Moves?"

Galen smiled faintly. "I see." He looked up at the Sceptile standing behind Zira. "Grab her!"

Before Zira could react, the Sceptile grabbed her tail and then wrapped both arms around her. Zira began to struggle. "Hey! Let go! What the fuck are you doing?"

"I know of someone who's paying a lot of money for Human test subjects," Galen said. "What we can get for you will pay our expenses for the next few months."

Zira continued her effort to free herself from the Sceptile's grip. As she struggled, a strange pressure began to form in her chest. Smoke began to stream out of her nostrils as the pressure rapidly increased. Within moments, her chest felt like it was about to burst.

"She's a feisty one, isn't she?" Galen said. He looked over at the Lucario standing next to him. "Hit her with a stun seed."

The Lucario reached into his bag and pulled out a seed. Cracking the shell, he reached his arm back as he prepared to throw the seed. Before he could, however, Zira opened her mouth and unleashed a jet of fire towards him. The Lucario screamed as he fell to the ground, his body completely aflame.

The sudden flame attack caused the other two outlaws to jump backwards in surprise. Free of the Sceptile's grip, Zira bolted for one of the corridors leading out of the room, barely dodging Galen's slash attack as she ran past him. Zira ran as fast as her legs could carry her, knowing that the two remaining outlaws were in pursuit.

The next room that Zira entered contained several feral Pokémon, all of which immediately charged towards her. Just as she stopped to assess her situation, the outlaw Sceptile tackled her to the ground.

"Got you, you little—AAHHH!" the Sceptile yelled. All of the feral Pokémon pounced onto the Sceptile, knocking him off of Zira. He attempted to fight back with his leaf blade attack, but with the feral Pokémon all over him, the movement of his arms was restricted, leaving him virtually defenseless. The Sceptile let out an agonizing scream as the wild Pokémon continuously bit, slashed, and stabbed him. Zira got back onto her feet and turned around just in time to see a Nidorino ram its horn into the Sceptile's chest, ending his suffering. Her stomach turned at the gruesome sight before her.

With the Sceptile dead, the feral Pokémon turned their attention towards Galen, who had just entered the room. As a battle erupted between Galen and the ferals, Zira took a moment to scan her surroundings for a set of stairs. What she found instead was a shimmering view of the outside world on one of the walls.

 _That must be the way out!_

Zira ran towards the opening as fast as she could. Emerging on the other side, she was immediately drenched by torrential rain. The storm had gained strength during the time that she was stuck in the dungeon and it didn't look like it would be ending soon. Realizing that she was still in grave danger from both the weather and from Galen, Zira ran for the nearby forest.

The trees of the forest offered little protection from the tempest above. The rain and the wind continued to assault Zira's body as she ran haphazardly through the forest. Between the brutal weather and her experience in the dungeon, Zira felt like she was trapped in a nightmare that she couldn't wake up from.

Bursting out of the forest, Zira arrived at the edge of a cliff. A river vigorously flowed about fifteen meters below. Zira took a moment to catch her breath, but it didn't take long before she began to shiver as the rain continued to pummel her. Just as she turned around to head back into the forest, a fire blast attack struck the ground in front of her, sending her flying backwards onto the ground.

"End of the line for you," Galen yelled as he hovered in the air.

Zira quickly picked herself up off of the ground and attempted to respond with the same flame attack she'd used in the dungeon. Zira took in a deep breath as she tilted her head back, and then, lunging her head forward, she blew all of the air out of her lungs. Unfortunately, air was the only thing that came out of her mouth. Zira's blood turned to ice at her sudden inability to produce the powerful flame attack.

Galen laughed. "I guess that flamethrower in the dungeon was a fluke!" He set himself down on the ground and folded his wings behind his back. The claws on both of his hands began to glow a bright white and extended in length. "You're coming with me!" he said, walking towards Zira.

Zira's heart beat rapidly in her chest as she backpedaled towards the cliff's edge. Attempting to run would be futile and there was no way that she'd win a fight against the powerful Charizard. Surrender was also off the table as she didn't want to become someone's unwilling test subject. There was only one option left. Choosing to place her life in the hands of fate, she spun around and leaped into the water below.

As Zira plummeted into the raging river, she felt a wave of deep cold run throughout her entire body. After swimming to the surface, she looked up at the cliff, noticing her would-be captor staring at her blankly as she quickly floated away from him. At this point, she became aware of the speed at which she was moving. Turning herself around, she discovered, to her horror, that she was fast approaching a waterfall. With no way out of the river and nothing to grab on to, she had no choice but to ride the waterfall down.

Careening over the waterfall, Zira fell another 20 meters. This time, the landing wasn't so forgiving. Splashing into the water at the base of the waterfall, her right leg struck a jagged rock, tearing into her skin just above the knee. Zira cried out in pain underwater. She made her way back to the surface and dragged herself onto the shore, shivering badly. Seeing a nearby tree that would provide some cover from the rain, she limped over to it so that she could examine the full extent of her injury.

The encounter with the rock had left a large gash in the side of her leg that was bleeding heavily. Zira put pressure on the wound to slow the bleeding. At this point, she noticed something rather worrying. The deep cold that she felt when she first jumped into the river hadn't disappeared despite being out of most of the rain. In fact, it seemed to be growing worse. It suddenly occurred to her what might have happened. Bringing the tip of her tail into view, she saw that the flame had gone out, revealing the existence of hundreds of tiny pores covering the tip of her tail where the flame had once been.

"No…" Zira said quietly as she grasped her tail near the tip with her shivering, blood-covered hand. Athena's warning about putting out her flame boomed through her mind. She hadn't considered her tail's flame when she chose to jump into the river. With the flame gone, hypothermia was rapidly setting in. She had to find help. Fast.

Zira got back onto her feet, an action that seemed to require an extraordinary amount of effort. With a hand covering the wound on her right leg, she limped forward into the rain. As the weather continued its brutal assault on her failing body, she pressed onward as quickly as she could, a difficult task considering that her legs felt like they were getting heavier by the moment.

Zira didn't get much farther before she collapsed to her hands and knees. Expending what little energy she had left, she brought her good leg forward and attempted to lift herself back off the ground. It was of no use, however, as her leg gave out, causing her to fall forward onto the wet ground. As she lay there, the rain continuing to pound her, Zira came to the realization that death was upon her.

 _No… I don't want to die,_ Zira thought, struggling to remain conscious. The shivering ceased as her body and mind began to shut down. Zira tried to move her limbs, but she had no energy left. This truly was the end for her.

 _I don't want to die…_

With that final thought, Zira slipped into unconsciousness.

Several hours passed before Zira opened her eyes. She was now in a cave, laying by a fire with her head resting on a travel bag. Rainfall could be heard outside, but there was no thunder. The worst of the storm seemed to have passed. Zira lifted her head and glanced at her tail. The flame had been rekindled and was now burning brightly. Her eyes then shifted to the injury on her leg, which had been bandaged. Zira slowly moved herself into a sitting position, groaning as she did so.

"Cyril," a male voice near the cave's entrance said. "She's awake."

Zira glanced towards the entrance. Two Pokémon, a Grovyle and a Golduck, walked towards her. They each wore blue bandanas around their necks featuring a light blue logo that took on the form of a three-fingered claw surrounded by a hexagon.

"How are you feeling?" the Grovyle asked, crouching beside her.

"Better," Zira replied. "Are you the ones who saved me?"

The Grovyle nodded. "Yeah… barely. By the time we got you to this cave, your life was hanging on by a thread. You're lucky we had a fire-starting kit with us, or we never would've been able to relight your tail's flame."

"Thank you, both of you, for rescuing me," Zira said, smiling. "My name's Zira."

The Grovyle smiled in return. "My name's Cyril."

"And I'm Lance," the Golduck said.

"We're a rescue team called Team Dakota," Cyril continued. He reached into his bag and pulled out an apple, which he handed to Zira. "You're probably hungry."

Zira's stomach growled as she accepted the apple, reminding her that she hadn't eaten anything since her arrival on this world. Zira sank her teeth into the delicious fruit, relishing its sweet flavor. She quickly devoured the apple, licking the edges of her mouth afterwards. This elicited a chuckle from both of her rescuers.

"That's quite the appetite," Lance said. "I wish we had an oran berry to give you as well. That'd help your leg heal."

"So… were the two of you just passing through the area?" Zira asked, wanting to strike up some friendly conversation.

"Not exactly," Cyril replied. "We came to investigate what looked like a rift, but we missed it. We were just heading back to base empty-handed when we saw you and a Charizard run out of a dungeon. If you don't mind us asking, what happened?"

Zira looked down at the ground and sighed. "All right. I'll start from the beginning."

Zira told her story while her rescuers listened intently. She covered everything that had happened since her emergence from the rift, including her memory loss and her Humanity. Cyril's and Lance's faces were filled with wonder as she told her tale. After she finished speaking, her rescuers remained silent for a long moment as they processed what she had told them.

"That's quite the amazing story," Lance said. "Also some amazingly bad luck."

Zira giggled at Lance's statement. "That's putting it mildly," she said. "So what happens now?"

"First, we need to get you to the Federation outpost in Seneca Village," Cyril said. "The healers there can fix your leg so that not even a scar remains." He glanced at the cave's entrance. "The rain stopped. We should get moving if we want to be there by sundown."

Cyril helped Zira off the ground, slinging one of her arms around his neck. Lance put out the fire with his water gun attack and picked up Cyril's travel bag, hanging it on his shoulder with his own travel bag. Finally, the group stepped out of the cave into the damp forest.

Zira limped along the best she could. She was grateful to have Cyril by her side. The Grovyle supported most of her weight when she stepped on her wounded leg. Lance walked by her other side, occasionally scanning their surroundings. Zira figured he was just being cautious, not wanting the group to be jumped by outlaws such as those she encountered earlier.

Nearly an hour after they started walking, a sudden ray of sunshine caught Zira's attention, drawing her eyes to the sky above. The clouds were beginning to part, revealing the blue sky and the setting sun. The group stopped briefly at a spring so that they could each quench their thirst before pressing on towards Seneca Village.

It was dark by the time the group finally reached the small frontier village. As they entered the settlement, two Magnemite guards began to float towards them, but halted their advance when Lance held up a badge of some sort and pointed towards his bandana.

Walking deeper into the village, Zira gazed at the various buildings as much as the light from the luminous orb streetlamps would allow. The houses and shops varied in appearance as much as their inhabitants. Some of the wooden structures took on the form of Pokémon, while others were more plainly designed. At the center of the village lay the town square, which contained a fountain, various shops, and a large building constructed of stone.

Cyril and Lance led Zira into the large stone building. The lobby was abuzz with activity as various Pokémon went about their business. Some sat at desks shuffling paperwork. Others were standing at a bulletin board looking at the various postings. Zira wanted to see more, but Cyril immediately steered her towards a door to the left labelled _Medical_. Inside sat a single Audino, who immediately jumped out of her seat upon seeing Zira hobbling in.

"Finally, a real injury to treat," the Audino doctor said. "Please, have a seat on the bed."

Cyril glanced at the Audino's desk as he helped Zira over to the bed. "Been tracing your hand again?"

"Nothing happens on the night shift," the Audino said with a note of frustration. "And in the rare case something does, it's someone saying they can't sleep."

"I was only guilty of that once," Lance noted, earning himself a glare from the doctor.

As the Audino set to work on Zira's leg using her heal pulse move, a male Flygon wearing a black bandana featuring a white logo walked into the room.

"Where in the world have you two been?" the Flygon asked. "You never completed your patrol."

"We broke off to investigate what looked like a rift," Cyril replied. "We were going to report our findings to the commander once we were done here."

"Cale's turned in for the night," the Flygon said. "Come with me. You can give me your report."

"Yes sir," Cyril said as he followed the Flygon out of the medical office.

"Who was that?" Zira asked.

"That was Lieutenant Shar," Lance answered. "He's in charge of the night shift."

After a few minutes, the Audino completed her work. "All done! Good as new."

Zira looked down at the site where her leg had been punctured. Cyril wasn't kidding when he said there wouldn't even be a scar. Zira hopped off the bed and walked back and took a few steps. Noticing that her leg did, in fact, seem to be fully healed, Zira turned towards the Audino and nodded in respect. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome," the Audino replied before returning to her desk.

Zira smiled brightly for a moment, having survived the crazy events of the day, and now she was fully healed as well. Her smile faded though as happiness gave way to uncertainty. What would happen now? Where should she go? What should she do? Her mind was flooded with questions about both her past and her future and she didn't have the slightest clue where to start looking for answers.

"Is something wrong, Zira?" Cyril asked as he walked back into the medical office.

"I just don't know why I came to this world or where I should go from here," Zira said. She let out a yawn. Despite her unconsciousness earlier, she still felt tired. "Do you guys know where I can stay for the night?"

"You're welcome to spend the night at our place," Cyril said. "We've got a spare hammock available."

Zira's spirits immediately lifted upon hearing Cyril's offer. "Really?" Wondering what Lance thought about the idea, she glanced at the Golduck, who smiled and nodded. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Zira and her rescuers walked out of the medical office into the lobby. Just as they reached the exit, Cyril turned to Lance with a serious expression on his face.

"Shar said you and I need to talk to Cale first thing in the morning," Cyril said.

"Oh? Bad news?" Lance asked.

"He wouldn't say," Cyril answered as he turned around and walked outside.

Zira followed Cyril and Lance out of the Federation building. Their path took them out of the square towards a group of wood cabins just off of the main road. As they walked up to one of the cabins, a horrifying thought crossed Zira's mind. What if her tail's flame torched the cabin while they slept? Zira grabbed the tip of her tail and held it in front of her as Cyril opened the cabin's door.

"Here it is," Cyril said as he walked into the small cabin. "It's not much, but it's home."

Zira looked around the interior as she walked inside. The cabin was just as plain inside as it was outside. There was a basic kitchen area just inside the entrance to the left, followed by a worn desk and chair. Two hammocks were suspended in the back of the cabin and a third along the side opposite of the kitchen and desk. A single sconce holding a luminous orb cast a bluish glow upon the room.

"I'd prefer to think of it as a temporary home," Lance said, placing the travel bags he was carrying on the desk. "After we've moved up to gold rank, I'd like to return to Dakota City."

"Yeah, me too," Cyril said. He placed a hand on a hammock nearest to the door. "This'll be yours, Zira." He turned towards Zira, seeing her holding her tail. "Ah… yeah, you'll need to be careful with that. Fortunately, the hammock is fireproof."

Knowing the hammock was fireproof put Zira's mind at ease. She would certainly need to be mindful of her tail's flame in wooden structures and around easily combustible vegetation, but at least she didn't need to worry about burning the cabin down while she slept. Zira hopped into the hammock and sat, facing Cyril.

"Lance and I need to report to Commander Cale first thing in the morning," Cyril said, "so we might not be here when you wake up. We shouldn't be gone long. When we get back, we'll help you decide what to do."

"Thank you… for everything," Zira said. "I wish I had a way to repay both of you."

"Don't worry about it," Lance said, smiling. "We're just glad you're all right." He placed a hand on Cyril's shoulder. "Let's try to get some sleep. We're either going to sink or swim tomorrow."

Cyril sighed. "Yeah…"

Zira's mind dwelled on Lance's comment for a moment. Shar had mentioned earlier that Cyril and Lance never completed their patrol. Were they going to be punished? The thought made Zira's stomach turn.

As Zira made herself comfortable in the hammock, the events of the day passed through her mind. To say that it had been a crazy day would be an understatement of galactic proportions. She was lucky to be alive. As Zira closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, she resolved to find out why she came to this world. Additionally, she also had another goal in mind.

Somehow, she would find a way to repay Cyril and Lance for saving her life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Cyril awoke just as the morning sun began to filter through the windows. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up in his hammock, giving himself a moment to wake up a bit more. After nearly a minute had passed, Cyril carefully slid out of the hammock, stumbling slightly as he landed on his feet. He let out a yawn before glancing at the other two Pokémon in the room. Lance was still asleep, as was Zira, the odd Charmeleon they'd rescued the day before. Cyril walked over to Zira's hammock and gazed at the sleeping Charmeleon.

Zira was lying on her back with her hands resting on her chest. Cyril's eyes ran over her entire body, from her peaceful face to her bright, white belly, down her long red legs to the tip of her tail, where her flame burned calmly. Her majestic body was outmatched only by the shroud of mystery surrounding her. What brought her to the Pokémon world? Was she destined to fill an important role, or was her arrival merely an accident?

Cyril sighed as he turned away from Zira, knowing that he wasn't likely to find answers to those questions any time soon, if ever. He walked over to Lance's hammock and began to shake the sleeping Golduck. "Hey," he whispered. "Wake up."

Lance opened his eyes and lifted his head. He stared bleary-eyed at Cyril for a few seconds before putting his head back down. "Oh gods…" he said, rubbing his eyes.

"It's nice to see you too, sunshine," Cyril said. "Come on. It's time to face the music."

Lance nodded before quietly sliding out of the hammock. As Cyril and Lance walked past Zira's hammock, Zira suddenly turned onto her side, her tail lashing upward. Cyril jumped away, eliciting a stifled laugh from Lance. Slightly embarrassed, Cyril looked wide-eyed at the grinning Golduck for a moment before grabbing his bag off of the desk and stepping outside. Lance grabbed his bag as well and quietly closed the door on his way out.

"Do you think we have time for breakfast?" Lance asked.

"I don't think I could eat anything right now," Cyril replied. "Let's just hear what Cale has to say."

"Try not to worry, Cyril," Lance said, placing a hand on the Grovyle's shoulder. "I don't think Cale will shut us down. We may have strayed from our patrol, but we made a discovery and saved a life. He'll take that into consideration."

"I hope you're right," Cyril said quietly. _I'd hate to go back home and tell everyone that we're failures._

Failure. It was the word that often kept Cyril awake at night. Leading his own rescue team was his lifelong dream. The thought that he would fail to keep his dream alive terrified him to no end. Just the other day, before setting out on their patrol, he'd broken down into tears in the town square after realizing that they wouldn't even be able to pay the month's rent for the cabin. At least he still had his friend Lance. It was only because of Lance's unwavering support that he hadn't given up yet.

As Cyril and Lance walked into the square, the wonderful aroma of food filled Cyril's nose. The surrounding restaurants had just opened and many of the Pokémon in the square were streaming into them for a quick meal before either heading to work or out of town. The scent of the food and the beautiful morning sky, however, did little to put Cyril's mind at ease. He let out a sigh as they passed by the fountain in the center of the square. The Federation building was not much further away.

"What do you think of Zira?" Lance suddenly asked, shaking Cyril out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh… she seems nice," Cyril replied.

Lance gave Cyril a sly grin. "You're just interested in that nice ass of hers, aren't you?"

"What? No!" Cyril glanced at the Golduck, seeing that he was not entirely convinced. "Okay, fine, I think she's cute, but that's not the only reason I offered her a place to stay." Cyril returned his gaze to the looming Federation building. "There something about her that I find… I don't know… fascinating."

"Aye, she's certainly unique in many respects," Lance said. "You don't see too many Charmeleons with a bright white belly, certainly not with a Human mind as well. And with that slender body and long legs, I bet she'd be a speed demon in combat."

"Ha-ha! Yeah…" Now standing before the entrance to the Federation building, Cyril took in a deep breath. "All right," he said, taking a step forward. "Here we go."

As they entered the lobby, Cyril looked around for Commander Cale, the Nidoking who was in charge of the facility. The scene was chaotic as the night shift was being replaced with a bleary-eyed day shift. Commander Cale, however, was nowhere in sight.

"Maybe he's in his office," Cyril said as he started walking towards the hallway in the back of the lobby. As he and Lance made their way through the crowded room, Lance looked at the job board.

"Damn… no E or D-rank jobs," Lance said. "Looks like we're volunteering for another patrol."

"Assuming this meeting goes well," Cyril reminded him as they continued walking. Cale's office was at the end of the hallway to the right. Reaching the door, Cyril tried to turn the door handle, but the door was locked. He turned to Lance. "I guess he's not in yet."

"He'll be here shortly," a male voice from behind said.

Cyril turned around to see Shar exiting the office across from Cale's, closing the door behind him. Even through the Flygon's red lenses, Cyril could see the fatigue in Shar's eyes. Cyril then noticed that Shar was holding a file in his left hand. As Shar locked the door leading into his office, Cyril caught a glimpse of part of the file's label, which ended with the letters OTA.

 _It's our file,_ Cyril thought, his heart sinking.

"I saw Cale and Jake having breakfast at the Starlight Café," Shar said. "It shouldn't be much longer—oh, there they are."

Cyril and Lance both turned towards the lobby entrance. Jake the Ampharos, Cale's other lieutenant, walked in first, carrying his signature coffee mug with the phrase "I hate mornings" printed on the side of it. Cale himself walked in next, his eyes immediately zeroing in on Cyril and Lance. Cyril began to tremble slightly as Cale and Jake made their way through the crowded lobby towards them. He hoped that he would not have a panic attack.

"Commander!" Shar yelled over the commotion in the lobby. He held the file up in the air as he walked towards Cale. "I need to talk to you." He handed the file to Cale, who immediately began to browse its contents while Shar spoke.

Cyril sighed heavily as he watched the exchange. He began to fidget with his hands as he waited for them to finish their discussion. Lance placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. After a few minutes, the conversation ended and Cale and Jake walked over to meet them.

"How are you holding up, Cyril?" Cale asked. "You seemed rather distressed the other day after you were given your assignment."

Cyril's eyes widened. "Uh… you saw that?"

"The whole square saw it," Jake said before taking a sip from his coffee mug.

Lance looked at Cyril with a curious expression on his face, having not witnessed what took place in the square. "Saw what?"

Cyril's face flushed in embarrassment. "Oh gods. I can explain…"

Cale held up a hand. "We'll talk about it in a bit." Cale reached into his bag and pulled out a set of keys. He opened the door and walked into his office. "Come on in," he said, holding the door open. As soon as Cyril and Lance walked into the sparsely decorated office, Cale closed the door behind them.

"Shar told me about what happened regarding your patrol," Cale said as he walked past Cyril and Lance. Taking a seat behind his desk, he opened the file that Shar had given him and again browsed through its contents. "That was a risky move on your part, straying so far from your patrol route, but I understand why you did it. A strange rift and a legendary Pokémon's sudden interest in it are certainly worthy of investigation, so I'll let this incident slide." He put down the file and looked directly at Cyril. "But next time, ask for authorization first. Your badges still should've been able to communicate with us from that distance."

"Y-yes sir," Cyril replied, hanging his head. He wanted to smack himself for forgetting such an important detail.

"Sorry, Cyril, I should've thought of that too," Lance said, looking at the embarrassed Grovyle.

"And the Human-turned-Charmeleon you rescued…" Cale skimmed over Cyril's report. "Zira… what's her status?"

"She's resting at our cabin right now," Lance answered. "She has gaps in her memory regarding who she is, but she's otherwise all right. We've offered to help her out any way we can."

"Thank you for that," Cale said. "It takes some weight off my shoulders. Now, going back to what I was saying earlier…" Cale locked eyes with Cyril. "What was that breakdown about the other day?"

Cyril started fidgeting with his hands again. "Well, sir, we've been having a hard time finding enough work. We're almost out of money and we're about to lose our cabin." Cyril sighed in resignation and looked down at the ground, too ashamed to look at Cale in the eyes. "Our team will be defunct by the end of the month."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Cale said. "You're one of the few rescue teams here in Seneca Village that shows any promise. The other so-called rescue teams came here just because they thought they'd get rich or make a name for themselves. They don't actually care about the rescuing part. And don't even get me started on the Explorers Guild. Greedy lot."

It was no secret that Cale wasn't a fan of the Explorers Guild. Cyril had heard that Cale had a really bad run-in with an exploration team before his transfer to the Seneca Village outpost. Exploration teams going bad wasn't an unusual occurrence on the continent of Andara and Cale watched the local explorers like a Staraptor.

"I can't promise anything," Cale said, "but I'll see if I can find some special assignments for you."

Cyril lifted his head upon hearing Cale's words. Finally, a glimmer of hope! "Really? You'd really do that for us, sir?"

"Really, Cyril," Cale answered. "As I said, your team is one of the few here that shows any promise, and I don't want to see it fail before it has a chance to get off the ground." He stood up. "Now, I need to attend to my duties. Good luck to both of you. I'll be keeping an eye on your progress."

"Thank you, sir," Cyril and Lance said in unison, smiling brightly. For Cyril, this was a huge confidence boost. He may have made a mistake starting a rescue team in the frontier, but there was still a chance that he and Lance could recover from that mistake. Team Dakota wasn't finished yet.

Cyril and Lance were still smiling as they left the office and made their way through the lobby, which had calmed considerably with the departure of the night shift. As Team Dakota walked out into the square, Lance nudged Cyril's arm with his elbow.

"See? I told you he wouldn't shut us down," Lance said jubilantly as he walked beside Cyril.

"Well, we're not out of the woods yet," Cyril noted, heading straight for the fountain. "Hopefully, Cale will find us some of those special missions he was talking about. In the meantime, we need to keep looking for work."

"There's also the matter of Zira," Lance noted. "We offered to help her decide what to do, but to be honest, I don't have a clue where to start."

Cyril remained quiet as he considered Lance's words. He wanted to help Zira, but like Lance, he wasn't sure how to go about doing it. As Cyril and Lance approached the fountain, they sat on the fountain's stone edge, gazing at nothing in particular as the Pokémon around them went about their business. The sun was rising higher in the clear sky, bathing the small frontier town in its warm light. Cyril closed his eyes and slowly breathed in and out. As he relaxed, an idea occurred to him. Opening his eyes, Cyril turned to face Lance.

"Maybe we should ask Zira to join our team," Cyril said.

"Are you serious?" Lance asked. "Being a rescuer is a dangerous job and she doesn't know a damn thing. She doesn't even know any moves aside from an unreliable flamethrower."

"She can be taught," Cyril said, looking straight ahead again. "This is a dangerous world and she needs to learn how to defend herself. As a member of our team, we can teach her how to fight while at the same time giving her a home and a purpose in life. Given some time, I think she'd make a great rescuer. Maybe we'll discover what brought her to our world along the way."

Lance sighed. "Well, assuming she's willing to give it a try. After what happened to her the other day, she might not be interested."

Cyril stood up and looked at Lance. "Let's ask her."

* * *

Zira awoke on her side in her hammock. The morning sun filled the interior of the cabin. After a few moments, Zira rolled onto her back and placed her hands over her belly as she tried to make herself more comfortable.

 _Just a few more minutes…_

As Zira tried to get back to sleep, she brought one hand up to her chest to scratch an itch. She yawned as her fingers ran over her pectoral muscles on her otherwise flat chest.

 _Flat chest?_

Zira's eyes snapped open. Alarmed, she lifted her head and looked over her body. Though initially shocked by what she saw, Zira quickly relaxed with a sigh as she recalled the events of the previous day. Her thoughts then shifted to her two rescuers. From the way that they had spoken the other night, they seemed to be in dire straits. Zira glanced at the other two hammocks in the room, seeing that they were empty.

 _They must be at that meeting they spoke of. I hope it turns out all right for them._

Zira didn't think that she'd be able to get back to sleep, so she turned over and slowly got out of the hammock, being careful not to brush her flaming tail against the wooden floor. Zira yawned again before performing a few stretches, during which her tail's flame caught her attention. She grabbed the tip of her tail and cradled it in front of her, staring into the flame.

"You're not so bad," Zira said softly. She found herself mesmerized by the flame, her beautiful flame. Despite her shock upon first seeing it the other day, Zira was already starting to warm up to the idea of the flame being an ever-present part of her. She lightly blew on the flame, causing it to flicker. Zira chucked before releasing her grip on her tail and allowing it to move around behind her.

 _I could be waiting a while till Cyril and Lance get back,_ Zira thought. She looked around the cabin for something to occupy her. It appeared the only items of any interest in the rather empty cabin sat on the worn desk, where Zira spotted several books standing between a pair of bookends and what appeared to be a newspaper. She walked over to the desk and looked at the spines of the books, spotting a number of interesting titles such as _Team Apex and the Falling Star_ , _The Time Crisis_ , _Rescue Team Essentials_ , and _The History of Andara_. As interesting as the books were, it was the newspaper, the _Seneca Village Weekly News_ , that grabbed her attention, specifically the headline at the top in large print: PRESIDENT SURVIVES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT.

Zira picked up the newspaper and sat in the worn chair in front of the desk, curling the end of her tail upward to keep the flame off of the floor. As she read the article, Zira learned a number of things about the world she now found herself in.

The continent of Andara was home to a nation known as the Andaran Federation, a republic that spread across the western two-thirds of Andara. The president, a female Blaziken named Kara, had narrowly escaped death after a bomb composed of about twenty blast seeds detonated near her while she was on her way to speak with the Federation Council, the legislative body of the Andaran Federation. Although Kara survived with only minor injuries, several security officers and civilians lost their lives in the blast. The attack was blamed on the independent territories on the eastern side of the continent, who denied any involvement.

After Zira finished reading the article, she looked at the remaining headlines in the paper, most of which were bad. It would seem that things were not going well on Andara. As Zira began to read another article, the cabin door suddenly opened and Cyril and Lance walked in. Zira stood up with the newspaper still in her hands.

"Hey, you're finally awake," Cyril said, smiling. "How are you?"

"I'm all right," Zira said, folding the newspaper. "I've just been doing some reading."

The smile disappeared from Cyril's face as he eyed the newspaper. "Ah… I wish there was some better news in there. It's not exactly the best introduction to our world."

"Are things really so bad?" Zira asked.

Cyril sighed. "I'm not going to hide anything from you. Things are pretty screwed up on this continent right now and I don't see it getting any better in the foreseeable future. At least, not unless something miraculous happens."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Zira said, still holding on to the newspaper. Her gaze shifted to the floor for a moment before laying the newspaper on the desk.

"At least we're relatively isolated from current events out here in the frontier," Lance chimed in. "Life here in Seneca Village is still somewhat normal."

As Zira turned to face her rescuers, she noticed that Cyril was holding something in his right hand. "What's that?"

"Oh!" Cyril held up a loaf of bread with both hands. "Here's breakfast." He broke off a third of the loaf and handed it to Zira. "It's multi-berry bread. You'll love it."

"It has healing properties as well," Lance said. "Not as much as the raw berries it's made of, but it'll still leave you feeling full of energy."

Zira accepted the piece of bread and quickly devoured it. As it turned out, Lance wasn't exaggerating the effects of the berry bread. Zira felt like she was ready for any challenge the day might throw at her. Cyril divided what remained of the loaf between himself and Lance and they too quickly finished their meals.

"By the way, Zira," Cyril said. "I've been thinking about what you said the other day about wishing you could repay us. There might be a way that we could help each other."

"Really?" Zira asked. "How?"

Cyril fidgeted with his hands. "Well, I was wondering…" Cyril took a deep breath. "How'd you like to join our rescue team?"

Zira's jaw dropped as she stared at the Grovyle. This was totally unexpected. As much as she wanted to repay Cyril and Lance for saving her life, joining their team wasn't exactly what she had in mind. What could she possibly contribute to Team Dakota when she couldn't even defend herself? She didn't want to be a burden on them.

"Uh, that means no," Cyril said nervously after a few seconds. "I-I totally understand. It wasn't my intention to make you feel uncomfortable or anything. I just… oh gods…"

Lance placed a hand on Cyril's shoulder. "Why don't you let me handle this." Releasing Cyril's shoulder, he took a step towards Zira. "What Cyril means to say is that we feel you have a lot of potential. We can teach you about our world and how to fight. Admittedly, being a rescuer is a dangerous job, but it's also very fulfilling. And maybe, with a little luck, we'll discover what brought you to our world. If you're interested," he held out his hand, "we'd be honored if you would join us."

Zira pondered Lance's words for a moment. She'd already had a taste of just how dangerous this world was, so perhaps it was in her best interest to accept their offer. She had nowhere to go and she could certainly use their help. Her only alternative was to venture out on her own, which was likely to end badly. With her mind made up, Zira reached out and shook the Golduck's hand. "I accept."

Cyril shook Zira's hand next. "Thank you. And I'm sorry if I was a little awkward a moment ago."

"There's no need to apologize," Zira said. "I was just surprised."

"Well, let's get you a bandana," Cyril said, releasing his grip on Zira's hand. He walked around Zira and opened one of the top desk drawers, pulling out a blue bandana just like the one that he and Lance wore. Cyril positioned himself behind Zira, being careful to avoid the Charmeleon's tail flame, and tied the bandana around Zira's neck.

"It looks good on you," Lance said.

"It sure does," Cyril said. He pulled a hand mirror out of another desk drawer and handed it to Zira. "Have a look."

Zira held the mirror out as far as her arm could reach so that she could get a good look at herself. She had to agree with her new teammates; the bandana looked great on her. Zira smiled brightly as she brought up a hand and ran her fingers over the embroidered, light blue hexagon and claw that served as the team's logo. "I love it!"

"Welcome to the team, Zira," Cyril said. He and Lance both smiled as Zira gazed into the mirror.

"So what's next?" Zira asked, placing the mirror on the desk.

"First, we need to get you registered with the Rescuers Guild at the Federation building," Cyril replied. "After that, we'll take a look at the job board and see if there's any work available."

Zira, however, had a more basic need on her mind at the moment. "Um, before we head out… is there a toilet or something around here? I really have to pee."

Lance chuckled and then pointed towards a small shack outside. "There's an outhouse right over there."

"Th-thank you," Zira said as she embarrassedly excused herself.

Once Zira was ready to depart, the team left their cabin and headed towards the square. With the sun rising higher in the morning sky, Zira was getting a much better look at the village than she had the night before. Walking behind her new teammates, Zira took in the sights, the sounds, and the scents of the village that she would now call home.

As Team Dakota entered the square, Zira scanned her surroundings. The square was bustling with activity as the various Pokémon went about their routines. It still felt strange to her to walk around nude in public, but it was something she could get used to. After all, everyone else was nude too. Zira was reminded of her conversation with Athena the day before regarding the topic, as well as her subsequent abandonment.

 _She wouldn't even give me a ride,_ Zira thought. She couldn't make any sense of the Lugia's motives. Athena seemed so willing to help her at first. Why did Athena just abandon her like that? It was a question that Zira intended to ask if she ever saw the Lugia again. For now, she resolved to assist her new team any way she could. There was really nothing else she could do at this time. Zira sighed as she and her teammates walked up to the large stone building where her injuries had been treated the night before. Stepping into the busy lobby, Cyril and Lance led Zira to the right towards a desk near a large bulletin board staffed by a Nidoqueen.

"Hey, Anna," Cyril said, waving to the Nidoqueen. "We're Team Dakota." He gestured towards Zira. "We've just added a new member to our team."

"That's good to hear," Anna replied cheerfully. She handed Cyril a clipboard and a fountain pen. "Just fill out this form while I grab a badge and a travel bag for her." She glanced at a list she had sitting on her desk, then she walked into the storage room behind her.

Zira watched as Cyril filled out the form. Most of it was basic information that she'd expect to see on such a form. She couldn't help but notice Cyril's honesty on some of the fields, such as _Species_ and _Birthplace_. He had written "Charmeleon, formerly Human" and "Human world" respectively for those two fields.

"That won't raise any red flags?" Zira asked.

"Nah," Cyril replied. "You're not the first Human to come to our world and a lot of them tend to find homes in the Rescuers Guild or similar. In fact, the Charizard on Team Apex is a Human. We've got a book about them at the cabin. You should read it when you've got a chance." He finished filling in the final field just as Anna walked back into the room. Cyril placed the clipboard and pen back on the desk. "All done."

"All right, let's have a look," Anna said, picking up the clipboard. It didn't take long before she raised her eyebrows and gazed towards Zira. "Well, this certainly is a surprise. I never imagined I'd actually get to meet a Human all the way out here." She leaned over the desk and held out a hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Zira."

"It's nice to meet you too," Zira replied, shaking the Nidoqueen's hand.

Anna handed a travel bag and a badge across the desk to Zira. "I wish you the best of luck, Zira. Take care."

"Thank you," Zira replied as she swung the strap of the travel bag over her head and onto her shoulder. Her attention then shifted to the badge. Holding the rescue team badge in both hands, her eyes ran over its features, from the circular center to the pair of golden wings on each side. The center of the circle was occupied by a pink crystal, which glowed slightly as she rubbed her fingers over it.

"That crystal will allow you to communicate with the Rescuers Guild," Cyril noted. "It also acts as a tracking beacon, which is nice when a rescue team needs to be rescued themselves. Now, let's see if there's any jobs available." Cyril turned around and looked at the job board. He let out a sigh almost immediately. "Still no jobs."

Zira stepped up beside Cyril and examined the board. It seemed to be organized by rank into four categories, baring labels such as _E and D_ on the left side to _Star_ on the right side. The E and D-rank category was totally empty, while the C and B-rank category next to it only had a few papers pinned to it. Most of the papers on the board were concentrated in the A and S-rank and the Star-rank categories. A Fraxure wearing a purple armband stood nearby with his arms crossed, gazing briefly at Team Dakota before shifting his attention back to the board. Zira figured that he was part of another rescue team looking for work.

Cyril's comment a moment ago about there being no jobs had Zira confused. It appeared to her that there were plenty of jobs to choose from, yet neither Cyril nor the Fraxure appeared to be considering them. Were those jobs not available to them?

"Hey, what about those jobs there?" Zira asked, pointing towards the star-rank section.

"Those are way outside of our league," Cyril replied. "As a normal-rank rescue team, we're only permitted to take E and D-rank jobs, but there's none available." He sighed once more. "We'll talk to one of the security personnel and see if we can take on a patrol instead. It doesn't pay worth a damn, but beggars can't be choosers."

Just as Cyril stopped talking, Anna left her desk and walked towards the left side of the board where she then pinned a single job posting. As Anna walked back to her desk, Cyril and the Fraxure immediately sprinted towards the far end of the job board. Despite the Fraxure's head start, Cyril easily overtook him and, with a mighty leap, he snagged the job posting, rebounding off the board before landing on his feet, facing the Fraxure. This annoyed the Fraxure considerably.

"Aw, son of a bitch!" the Fraxure yelled, slamming the side of his fist into the job board before glaring at Cyril. "Fine! Take the damn mission! It probably doesn't pay shit anyway!" He turned away from Cyril and stomped towards the exit. Zira and Lance stepped aside, giving the angry Fraxure a wide berth.

The room went silent at the Fraxure's outburst. After the Fraxure walked outside, all eyes shifted towards Cyril, who was still standing by the board with the job posting in his hand. Cyril glanced uneasily at the onlookers for a moment and then quickly walked towards the Rescuers Guild desk to a wide-eyed Anna. He showed the job posting to Anna, conversed with her for a bit, and then headed for the exit.

"The job's ours," Cyril said, walking past his teammates. "Let's get out of here."

Zira and Lance followed Cyril out the door just in time to see the Fraxure flip over a wooden bench near the fountain, attracting the attention of several bystanders. The Fraxure gazed briefly at the onlookers before looking back at the Federation building, where Team Dakota was still standing. The Fraxure glared at them for a moment before turning around and walking out of the square.

"Wow, he's really pissed," Zira said.

"He's just frustrated," Cyril said with a note of sympathy in his voice. "There's a lot of low-ranking teams around here and not enough entry-level jobs to go around."

Lance turned to face Cyril. "So what's the mission?"

Cyril looked at the job posting. "It's a standard item recovery mission. Someone lost their journal in the Howling Woods dungeon. They're paying 200 poké for its return."

"Is that good?" Zira asked.

"It's not bad for an E rank job," Cyril replied, placing the paper in his bag. "In any case, this'll be a good starter mission for you. Howling Woods is a three hour walk from here, so we'd better get moving." Cyril took a step forwards, then stopped and turned to face Zira. "Uh, I should mention… Howling Woods is the dungeon that you escaped from yesterday."

Zira hesitated for a few seconds as Cyril's words sank in. "You're taking me back to the place where those outlaws tried to capture me?"

Cyril nervously rubbed the back of his neck, the expression on his face revealing his discomfort with the idea as well. "Y-yeah, I'm afraid so." He stepped towards Zira and placed his hands on her shoulders. Looking into her eyes, he said, "Don't worry. You're not alone this time. Lance and I will be with you all the way."

Zira stared back into the Grovyle's eyes. She was still uncertain about going back to that place, but Zira believed that Cyril and Lance had her well-being at heart. Besides, she wanted to learn how to fight and she desperately wanted to pay her rescuers back for everything they've done for her. It was time to face her fears. "All right," she said, giving Cyril a nod. "Let's do this."

As ready as they were going to be, Team Dakota left the square along the main road leading west out of Seneca Village. As they walked into the nearby forest, Zira took a moment to look back at the village, admiring the view of the small frontier village against the background of the trees, the mountains, and the nearby river. It was as though the scene came straight out of a dream. Zira smiled as she turned around and jogged to catch up with her teammates.

While the three Pokémon walked through the forest, they talked occasionally to pass the time. Most of the conversation was casual, covering a wide range of topics, though Cyril and Lance briefly covered some of the basics of being a rescuer. Zira couldn't help but notice that her teammates seemed to be steering clear of the subject regarding the political situation on Andara. Maybe they just didn't want her to worry about it. Or perhaps Lance was right about the isolation of Seneca Village and the locals simply weren't affected much by events so far away.

After a few hours, the scenery began to look familiar to Zira. She and her teammates had just crossed a river near the base of a waterfall, reminding Zira of her close encounter with death the previous day. She shuddered as she recalled the feelings of fear and helplessness that she felt after her tail's flame had been extinguished.

 _That's not going to happen this time,_ Zira thought. _There's no way I can be that unlucky. Right?_

After climbing up a hill and passing through more forested area, Zira and her teammates stepped into a clearing. Not far from where they were standing, Zira spotted a familiar patch of dense vegetation, along with its shimmering entrance.

"That's the place," Zira mentioned, pointing towards the dungeon entrance.

"Yep, it certainly is," Cyril said. He turned to face Zira. "Before we head in, try using your flamethrower attack."

"Um… I'll give it a shot," Zira said. She took in a deep breath as she pulled her head back, and then she blew all of the air out of her lungs as she lunged her head forward. But like the day before against Galen, only air came out. Zira stomped the ground in frustration. "Damn it!"

"Hey, don't worry," Cyril said, holding the palms of his hands outward to calm her down. "We were all new to this once. Give it another try, but this time, imagine a fire burning in your chest trying to get out."

Zira nodded and then closed her eyes. She tried to imagine flames burning within her as she took in another deep breath. Then, opening her eyes, she blew the air out of her lungs once more. This time, however, she erupted into a coughing fit, with each cough emitting a thick plume of dark smoke.

Lance placed his hands on his hips. "Hmm… perhaps we should try a more basic move instead. Even scratch would suffice."

"Agreed," Cyril said. He looked around for a moment before his eyes came to rest on a nearby tree. "Zira, try attacking that tree with your claws, but imagine that you're channeling all of your strength through your claws while you're doing it."

Zira stepped toward the tree and began swinging her claws at it. She felt silly attacking a tree, especially while being watched, but if it helped her learn a new move, then she was willing to do it. After a short time, she noticed that her claws had grown in length and were now glowing. With her newfound power, Zira was now doing major damage to the tree, leaving deep gashes in its trunk.

"That's good," Cyril finally said. "It appears you know slash, and better yet, you can sustain it."

Zira turned to face Cyril, panting from the exertion, but smiling. Even if her flamethrower turned out to be a dud, at least she now had something to defend herself with. "Awesome!" she said. "Sorry about the flamethrower though."

"It's no problem," Cyril said, smiling in return. "We'll work on that flamethrower another time. Now, let's go find that journal."

Zira followed her teammates to the dungeon entrance. Cyril passed through first, followed immediately by Lance. Zira watched as the entrance shimmered wildly as it reacted to her teammates passing through. Before stepping through herself, Zira took in a deep breath and exhaled. As ready as she was going to be, Zira stepped into the dungeon entrance, feeling the frigid wind of the threshold that was now very familiar to her. After appearing on the other side, Zira noticed that her teammates had concerned expressions on their faces.

"Is everything all right?" Zira asked.

"I forgot to mention something," Cyril said. "Don't take too long to enter a dungeon after your teammates have entered, or the threshold will send you to another part of the floor. The same rule applies to the stairs as well."

"Got it," Zira said. "By the way, do you think we'll find Galen here?"

"I doubt it," Cyril answered. "After I gave my report to Shar yesterday, he issued an arrest order for Galen, so I'm pretty sure he's long gone. With his flightless teammates dead, he has much greater range now."

 _What a relief,_ Zira thought. She wasn't too eager to deal with that Charizard again.

"Cyril, do we know what floor the journal is located on?" Lance asked. He seemed to be eager to get on with the mission.

"The job posting didn't say, but this dungeon only has three floors," Cyril replied. "We shouldn't have too much trouble finding it."

Zira and her teammates spread out and carefully searched the entire room for the lost journal. There wasn't much to the room, being rather devoid of any distinguishing features other than the short grass that covered the floor. A brief walk around the room's perimeter was all it took to confirm that the journal wasn't there.

As the group moved on to the other rooms, Zira noticed that the layout of the dungeon had changed since her last visit, which left her wondering just how much stranger these dungeons could possibly get. Cyril and Lance had told her about some of the quirks of mystery dungeons along the way to Howling Woods, but seeing these quirks in person was still a shock.

The team searched room after room, but it would seem that the journal was not on the first floor. Walking towards the room where the stairs were located, Zira wondered about the name of the dungeon, which made absolutely no sense to her, given the oppressive silence.

"Why is this dungeon called Howling Woods?" Zira asked. "It's totally quiet here."

Cyril chuckled. "It was probably someone's idea of a joke. Honestly though, I have no idea where people come up with some of these dungeon names."

Upon entering the room with the stairs, Team Dakota was spotted by two Nidorinos, who immediately charged at Zira and her teammates. Cyril ran towards one of the Nidorinos, the leaves on his arms extending into deadly, glowing scythes, while Lance stood his ground, waiting for the other Nidorino to come closer.

Zira readied her slash attack as she stood by Lance. She wasn't confident in her combat abilities yet, but she would do what she could to help out if one of her teammates got into trouble. Fortunately, her help didn't seem to be required. Zira watched in amazement as her teammates dealt with the Nidorinos.

Lance's eyes began to glow blue as he made a lifting motion with his hands. The closing Nidorino's body became enveloped in a blue aura as it was lifted off of the ground. Lance then spun around towards a nearby tree and made an overhead throwing motion, causing the Nidorino to sail through the air and smack into the tree, breaking its neck. Cyril flipped around the other Nidorino several times before jumping up and bringing his leaf blade down onto the Nidorino's neck, killing it.

"You're such a showoff, Cyril," Lance teased.

Cyril, walking over to his teammates, looked up at the taller Golduck and stuck out his tongue. "You're just jealous that you don't have my jumping prowess."

"You two were amazing!" Zira exclaimed. "I wish I could fight like that."

Cyril smiled at Zira. "You will, Zira."

Team Dakota headed up the stairs, one by one, to the second floor. Zira followed closely behind Lance, heeding Cyril's advice from earlier about not waiting too long to follow her teammates. Though she knew an attack move now, she was nowhere near ready to traverse a dungeon on her own and didn't want to risk being separated from her teammates. After passing through the cold, windy threshold separating the floors, Zira was relieved to see her teammates waiting for her.

As before, Team Dakota began by spreading out and searching the room that they were in. Zira looked within patches of tall grass, in hollow tree trunks, and even within the dense vegetation that made up the dungeon walls—at least, as much as was possible. When Zira attempted to search within the walls, some kind of unseen force pushed back against her. It served as a further reminder that the laws of nature didn't apply in mystery dungeons.

Finding nothing in the room they were in, Team Dakota headed for a nearby corridor to search the other rooms. As they traversed the seemingly endless corridors, Zira looked up at the blue sky beyond the dungeon canopy, wondering if it was even a real sky. She estimated they were already in the dungeon a couple of hours, yet the position of the sun never changed. After fruitlessly searching the remainder of the floor, Team Dakota headed up the stairs to the next floor without encountering a single feral Pokémon.

"Do you think we missed it?" Zira asked as she joined her teammates on the third floor.

"It's possible, but I don't think we did," Lance answered. "We've been pretty thorough."

"Even if we did, we can just enter the dungeon again and start over," Cyril said. "At least this isn't a 50-floor dungeon… or worse."

Lance chuckled. "Yeah, that would really suck."

As Cyril and Lance turned away to explore the room, Zira stood still for a moment. Looking down at the ground, Zira wondered if she overlooked the journal on one of the previous floors. It wouldn't look good to her new teammates if that turned out to be the case. Zira sighed as she turned around and walked towards a tree near the center of the room. She looked up at the sky beyond the dungeon canopy, hoping to purge the doubt from her mind, when she tripped and fell face first onto the ground, letting out a yelp as she did so. Cyril and Lance rushed over to her.

"Are you all right?" Cyril asked, crouching by her side.

"Ugh… yeah, I'm all right," Zira replied. As she turned herself over and sat up, she got a look at the object that she tripped over. Picking up the object, Zira realized that she'd found what they were searching for. "Hey, I found the journal!"

Cyril and Lance both giggled as they helped Zira get back onto her feet. Zira brushed the dirt off of the journal's leather cover before handing it to Cyril.

"Yep, that's the journal all right," Cyril said. He placed the journal in his bag. "Good job finding it, even if it was an accident." Cyril grinned at Zira.

"Today must be my lucky day," Zira said, returning Cyril's grin with one of her own.

An explosion suddenly reverberated throughout the dungeon, making all three Pokémon jump.

"Me and my big mouth," Zira lamented.

Cyril began running towards a corridor on the far side of the room. "I think it came from this way!"

Zira and Lance rushed to catch up with the Grovyle.

"Wait a minute," Zira said, jogging at Cyril's side. "We're running _towards_ the explosion?"

"Yeah. We have to investigate it," Cyril answered. "Someone could be—"

Cyril was cut off by another explosion, this time much closer. Before Team Dakota could reach the corridor, a Krokorok and a Sandslash sprinted into view. They both appeared to be wounded and frightened completely out of their wits.

"Run!" the male Krokorok screamed.

Cyril looked down the corridor as the other team ran past. His expression immediately changed to one of horror. "Oh shit!" He turned around and started running. "Follow them!"

As Zira turned to follow Cyril, she caught a glimpse of what was coming down the corridor: a horde of angry Nidorinos and Nidorinas. Far too many to fight. Zira ran as fast as she possibly could to catch up with the others, not wanting to suffer the same fate as the outlaw Sceptile the day before.

"The exit's this way!" the Krokorok yelled. He was leading everyone into another corridor.

I sure hope he's right about that, Zira thought. She and Lance were at the back of the pack, so if the Krokorok was wrong, she'd be one of the first to die. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she sprinted down the corridor. It was just her luck that she'd be running for her life again. Though Zira didn't dare look back, she could tell by the growls and the footsteps behind her that the ferals were closing in on them.

Zira glanced at Lance, who was running beside her, and noticed that he was digging for something in his bag. After a few seconds, Lance pulled a seed out of his bag, cracked the shell, and tossed the seed over his shoulder. A moment later, Zira heard—and felt—an explosion behind her.

"That was our last blast seed!" Lance shouted.

"We're almost there!" the Krokorok shouted. "Just a little bit further!"

The two teams sprinted into another room. Zira immediately noticed the shimmering exit on the far wall, but there was a problem. Several feral Pokémon stood between them and the exit. To make matters worse, the ferals that survived the blast seed explosion were closing in on them. They were surrounded.

"Engage!" Cyril shouted before unleashing a bullet seed attack on the ferals close to the exit.

All around Zira, a massive battle erupted. While her teammates and the other team fought the ferals, Zira stood in the middle of the fray, utterly overwhelmed by what was taking place. As she looked around at the carnage, a Nidorino jumped towards her. Zira shielded herself with her hands, preventing the Nidorino's horn from striking her, but it still managed to knock her off of her feet.

The Nidorino wasted no time jumping onto Zira. It attempted to bite her as she held its head away from her face. Zira began to claw at the Nidorino's throat with her right hand, but her bare claws weren't doing much damage against the Nidorino's hide. With her anger rising to its boiling point, Zira gritted her teeth and put all of her strength behind one more attack. This time, she managed to activate her slash attack. Her claws slashed through the Nidorino's throat, causing it to fall off of her as it bled out.

Zira quickly stood up and looked at the exit. There were four feral Pokémon standing between her and freedom. Escape was so close that she could almost taste it. As Zira focused on the ferals blocking the exit, a familiar pressure formed in her chest as smoke billowed from her mouth and nostrils. Realizing what was happening, Zira took in a deep breath and then exhaled in the direction of the ferals. A spark seemed to go off within her as her breath ignited into a stream of fire that engulfed two of the ferals.

A powerful jet of water suddenly whizzed by Zira's head, blasting away the other two ferals. Zira spun around to see where the hydro pump originated from. Her eyes landed on Lance, who was standing near her, water dripping from his mouth.

"The way's clear!" Lance shouted. "Let's get out of here!"

Everyone still fighting the ferals immediately disengaged and sprinted for the exit, as did Zira and Lance. Zira dove through the exit, landing harshly on the ground beyond the shimmering threshold. She quickly stood back up and readied her slash attack in case the feral Pokémon followed them. Zira jumped when she felt a hand land on her shoulder.

"Easy," Lance said. "Feral Pokémon can't follow us beyond the dungeon thresholds. We're safe now."

Zira bent over and placed her hands on her knees. After taking a moment to relax, she looked around to see if they'd lost anyone. Miraculously, everyone had survived. The Krokorok and the Sandslash sat on the ground as they addressed their wounds, and Cyril stood nearby, looking at her with a concerned expression on his face.

"Are you all right?" Cyril asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Zira replied.

"You did good today, Zira," Cyril said, smiling faintly. "I'm sorry your first mission turned out this way. That was a lot more action than I expected from a small dungeon like this."

"It's all right," Zira said, standing up straight. She smiled at Cyril. "Besides, now I can do this." Zira looked up towards the sky and attempted to fire off a flamethrower into the air, but she erupted into another coughing fit. The other four Pokémon laughed as Zira coughed up thick, black smoke.

Cyril place a hand on Zira's shoulder. "We'll have you using that flamethrower reliably in no time," he said with a great big grin on his face.

With everyone now in high spirits, both teams began the three hour walk back to Seneca Village.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Zira yawned as she and her teammates walked along the forested path leading to Seneca Village with the Sandslash and Krokorok in tow. It had been hours since they departed from the Howling Woods dungeon after having already spent hours there. The sun was now below the horizon and daylight was fading fast. Fortunately, the end of the forest was now in sight. Zira breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the village was not much further. It had not been a pleasant walk back.

Shortly after leaving the dungeon, Zira and her teammates discovered that the Sandslash and Krokorok were an exploration team affiliated with the Andara Explorers Guild. Cyril and Lance reacted badly to the revelation and an argument had ensued. After that, no one seemed interested in talking, leaving the group to walk back to Seneca Village in awkward silence.

Zira felt that her new teammates had been unfair to the explorers. After all, they didn't seem like bad Pokémon. On the other hand, she knew nothing of the Explorers Guild. For all she knew, Cyril's and Lance's accusations regarding the Explorers Guild turning a blind eye towards criminal activity within their ranks were spot on. It wouldn't be wise on her part to take sides without more information. Zira made a mental note to ask about it when they were alone.

As the group emerged from the forest, Zira couldn't help but smile at the sight of the small frontier village. It was certainly a welcome sight for her weary eyes. All she wanted to do right now was curl up in her hammock the instant that they returned home.

Home. It was surprising to Zira just how quickly she now thought of Team Dakota's cabin as her home. Perhaps it was because she still couldn't remember anything of her home on the Human world. During the walk back to the village, she'd desperately tried to remember who she was and what brought her to this world, but nothing would come to her. Were it not for Athena's mind probe the day before, she wouldn't even know her name.

Entering the village, Zira looked around at the businesses along both sides of the dimly lit main street. Some had already closed for the night and the remaining businesses would not be far behind, except for the inns, which were busier than Zira expected for the small village. She figured that Seneca Village must serve as a waypoint for Pokémon travelling between the Federation and what lay beyond its eastern border.

Upon entering the square, the Sandslash and Krokorok broke off from the group and headed for a nearby building. Due to the darkness, Zira couldn't make out the words on the sign above the door, but she assumed the building belonged to the Explorers Guild. When the explorers reached the door, they turned around and looked at Team Dakota. Zira stopped walking and turned to face the explorers. The dispirited expressions on the explorers' faces made her feel awful at the way they'd been treated by her teammates. Zira somberly waved at the explorers, who returned the favor before heading inside the explorers building, closing the door behind them. Zira stood in place for several seconds, staring at the closed door, before turning around and jogging after her teammates.

"I'm sure glad that's over with," Lance said.

"Same here," Cyril replied.

"Was that really necessary? The way you treated them?" Zira asked. "I mean, I know what you two said about the Explorers Guild right after we left the dungeon, but they can't all be bad. Right?"

Cyril let out a sigh as he stopped in front of the fountain in the center of the square. He turned towards Zira and said, "I realize that, and if it were an exploration team from one of the other continents, I'd be happy to chat with them, but the Andara Explorers Guild has a nasty reputation for a lot of reasons and no explorer under their umbrella can be trusted." He turned around and resumed his course for the Federation building. "You should read up on them when you've got a chance. Trust me. They're a bad group."

"Still, they were walking behind us all the way back to the village," Zira said. "If they wanted to stick knives in our backs, they had plenty of chances to do it."

"Zira, I'll admit that we might be wrong about those two," Cyril said, "but where the Andara Explorers Guild is concerned, it's best to be cautious."

Zira reflected on Cyril's words as the team stepped into the Federation building. Cyril walked over to the Rescuers Guild desk and placed the journal they'd recovered on the desk along with the job posting. The Pokémon at the desk, a female Floatzel this time, handled the transaction. After reviewing the information on the job posting, the Floatzel retrieved a number of gold coins from a safe under the desk and then dropped them into Cyril's cupped hands.

"Thank you, ma'am," Cyril said with a joyous expression on his face. He turned around to face his teammates, still holding the gold coins in his hands. "Excellent work, you two. A couple more jobs like that and we can pay the rent on the cabin."

"Not to mention afford some decent food," Lance said. "I mean, I like apples and berries as much as anyone, but I'd like to eat at a nice restaurant sometime."

"We'll get there," Cyril said as he placed the coins in a sack that he kept in his bag. "Now, we really should get some sleep. Tomorrow's another—oh, hey Commander!"

Zira turned her head to where Cyril was looking. A rather intimidating Nidoking was walking towards them. Zira figured that this must be the commander that Cyril was referring to.

"Hello, Cyril," Commander Cale replied. "Looks like you've had a successful day."

"Sure did," Cyril said, still smiling.

"I noticed you came back with an exploration team," Cale said. "Did they give you any trouble?"

Cyril shook his head. "No."

"That's good to hear," Cale said. Just as he turned to leave the building, Cyril suddenly stepped towards him.

"By the way, Commander," Cyril said, "I'd heard a while ago that you had a bad run in with an exploration team. If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

Cale turned towards Cyril. "Back when I was a lieutenant, a year out of the academy, Jake and I were assigned to an investigation regarding a smuggling ring near Emerald City. My commander enlisted the aid of an exploration team to help locate their base of operations. What we didn't realize was that this exploration team was working for the smugglers and they lured us into an ambush. Jake and I made it out alive; our commander didn't."

"Damn," Lance said. "I hope they all got what they deserved."

"Oh, they did," Cale said. "I personally led the expedition that wiped them out. For my efforts, I was given a commendation, a promotion, and my choice of available commands."

Lance snickered. "And you came all the way out here?"

Cale laughed in return. "Say what you will about Seneca Village, Lance. I like it out here. Being so far from Emerald City, we're well insulated from the political mess that currently grips the Federation. And I also don't see things that keep me awake at night." He let out a yawn. "Well, I'm going to turn in for the night. You three take care."

As Cale left the building, Cyril yawned as well, followed by Lance and Zira.

"We should turn in as well," Cyril said, walking towards the exit. "Come on, let's go get some sleep."

* * *

Cale yawned as he walked through the dimly lit streets of Seneca Village. The bluish glow from the luminous orb streetlamps being cast upon the village combined with the pleasant, warm breeze gave Cale a feeling of serenity. On nights such as this, he often found himself staring up at the stars. However, there were no stars tonight. Cale looked up at the sky, seeing that it was completely covered with clouds. A drop of water landed on his face, indicating that it would likely be raining soon. Cale was glad for it, despite his ground typing. Listening to the rain helped him sleep.

Even as the day was ending, Cale was already thinking about his agenda for tomorrow. First thing in the morning, after the staff meeting and the meetings with rescue team volunteers, he had to push through the paperwork on his desk that was piling up. The paperwork was his least favorite part of the job, but someone of his rank couldn't escape it. Still, he tried to get out on the streets as much as he could.

As his house came into view, Cale tried to purge the subject of work from his mind as he prepared to sleep. Though he loved his job, the long hours sometimes took their toll on him. The chief medical officer at the outpost has been encouraging him to reduce the number of hours that he works to make time for rest and relaxation. Cale tried to comply, but it was never long before he was back to the long hours.

Walking up to his house, Cale retrieved the key to his door from his travel bag. As he prepared to insert the key into the lock, Cale heard what sounded like a thump nearby. He surveyed his surroundings, suddenly becoming aware of the unnatural stillness around him. The breeze was gone and he could no longer hear the sounds of insects. It was dead quiet.

"Hello?" Cale said aloud. He began to feel very vulnerable. What caused the thump? Was there someone nearby? And why did it get so quiet? Cale's breaths were slow and shallow as he continued to gaze from side to side for the cause of the disturbance. After nearly a minute had passed, Cale turned back to the door, ready to chalk up the event to fatigue. Just as he brought the key up to the lock, the sound of a pebble bouncing off of the stone road reached his ears. Cale spun around towards the direction of the sound. He was certain now that he was being watched.

 _God damn bastard's toying with me,_ Cale thought. Placing his key back in his bag, his horn crackled with electricity as he prepared to fire a thunderbolt. He held is arms outward from his sides as he assumed a battle stance, his hands glowing purple as he prepared a poison jab attack. Cale walked away from his house until he was standing in the center of the road. He turned towards the direction of the pebble impact, ready for a fight.

"All right!" Cale yelled. "Come on out!" The section of the road in front of him was dark due to the luminous orbs along both sides of the road being deactivated. That's when he noticed it: a massive creature, just barely visible, standing in the middle of the road. As Cale stared at the creature, it's eyes suddenly began to glow blue. Cale's view of his surroundings faded into darkness as a powerful presence entered his mind. Only the creature remained, which was no longer shrouded in darkness, revealing it to be a Lugia with emerald-green eyes.

"Hello, Commander Cale," the Lugia said with a soft, feminine voice. "My name is Athena. We have much to talk about."

* * *

The next morning, Zira awoke suddenly to the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. She sat up in her hammock to get a look at what happened, groaning as she did so.

Lance had knocked a book off of the desk. After reaching down to pick up the book, he locked eyes with Zira. "Sorry about that," he said. "I'm still a little groggy."

"Same here," Zira said, rubbing her eyes. She took in a deep breath as she basked in the morning sunlight filtering through the windows. Nearly a minute had passed before she finally slid out of the hammock, stumbling slightly as she landed. "Ugh… I guess I'm not much of a morning person."

Lance smiled. "Given what you've been through these past couple of days, I'm surprised you're sleeping as well as you are. In any case, I'm sure you'll find your balance soon."

Zira nodded as she yawned. It took her a moment to realize that Cyril wasn't in the cabin. "Where's Cyril?"

"He ran out to grab a few supplies before we head up to the Federation building to look at the job board," Lance replied. "He shouldn't be gone long."

"So, this is a pretty fast-paced life, right?" Zira asked.

"It can be," Lance replied. "To be perfectly honest, Cyril and I haven't had much work since we came here. We've had to volunteer to take on security patrols just to make ends meet."

Just as Lance finished his sentence, Cyril walked into the cabin wearing his travel bag. His eyes immediately focused on Zira. "Oh, you're awake. Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough, I guess," Zira said, rubbing her eyes. "I'm still trying to wake up."

Cyril smiled at her. "Remember anything yet?"

Zira shook her head. "No. I've been trying, but nothing comes up."

"Give it some time," Cyril said, still smiling. "I'm sure you'll remember something soon."

Zira returned the smile as she gazed into Cyril's eyes. She was so fortunate to have encountered Cyril and Lance. They were good Pokémon. Her first day on this world could've turned out any number of ways and very nearly ended with her death. Zira was more determined now than ever to repay the debt she felt she owed to her rescuers for their kindness and generosity.

"If I may interrupt," Lance said, "that bag looks awfully light, Cyril. Did you get anything?"

"Uh…" Cyril turned towards Lance with a nervous expression on his face. "I got an oran berry and a totter seed."

"That's it?" Lance asked, the disappointment clear in his voice. "No escape orb or blast seeds?"

"I'm trying to save what little money we have," Cyril replied. "Orbs are expensive and we don't really need the blast seeds. Between my solar beam and your hyper beam, we've got enough firepower when we need it."

"Unless we're unable to use our most powerful moves for whatever reason," Lance said. "Blast seeds are a good fallback weapon."

"Look… let's just grab our things and get to the job board," Cyril said. The conversation seemed to have flustered him. "Let's just hope there's work available for us."

Lance grabbed Zira's bag off the desk and tossed it over to her before picking up his own bag. As Zira threw the strap over her head, she turned her eyes towards Cyril.

The Grovyle was already standing outside, waiting for his teammates. Cyril stood with his back turned towards the door and his hands on his hips. He seemed unable to stand still, looking from side to side and shifting his weight from one leg to the other. Zira was still getting a feel for her teammates' personalities, but from what she'd observed so far, Lance seemed to have the cooler head of the two.

Joining Cyril outside, Zira and her teammates immediately made their way towards the square. It had rained at some point during the night, leaving puddles on the ground and the air cool and damp. Zira took in a deep breath of the humid morning air, immediately feeling more awake and refreshed. As she took a moment to observe her surroundings, Zira stepped in a puddle, the water biting into her fire-type foot. Zira yelped as she quickly retracted her foot from the puddle.

"You okay?" Lance asked. He and Cyril had stopped walking and were now looking back at Zira.

"Yeah," Zira replied. "I just stepped in a puddle."

Cyril and Lance both chuckled as they turned around and resumed their course. Zira shook her head as she let out a sigh. That something as simple and innocent as water could cause her so much misery was a concept that she had trouble wrapping her brain around. There was so much about her new Charmeleon body that she had to get used to.

"Zira," Lance said, slowing his pace till Zira was walking beside him. "I was thinking about your amnesia before I fell asleep last night. I might be able to help you with that."

Zira turned her head towards Lance. "Really? How?"

"Well, I can't promise anything," Lance continued, "but if I try a full-strength mind probe for, say, ten minutes a day, I might be able to break down the amnesia over time."

"Full strength?" Zira asked, thinking of Athena's warning. "Isn't that dangerous? Athena seemed to think it was a bad idea."

"I understand the Lugia's caution," Lance said. "They're powerful psychics. One of their mind probes at full-strength could be lethal. Golducks aren't nearly as powerful. The worst I could do is give you a mild headache."

Zira considered Lance's words for a few seconds before nodding her head in understanding. "You said 'over time.' How much time are we talking about?"

"Weeks… maybe months," Lance replied. "As I said, I'm not a powerful psychic. On top of that, I've never been inside a Human mind before. I'm in uncharted territory here."

"Well… I guess it'll be a learning experience for both of us," Zira said, smiling. Her words and smile seemed to put Lance at ease. The Golduck smiled in return before turning his attention back to the path before them. The Federation building was just ahead.

The very instant that Team Dakota walked into the lobby of the Federation building, the Nidoqueen at the Rescuers Guild desk, whom Zira recognized from the other say as Anna, began to wave at them.

"Oh, Team Dakota!" Anna yelled as she waved. She had a joyous expression on her face. "Over here!"

Cyril and Lance looked at each other briefly before walking over to the Rescuers Guild desk. Zira followed, not knowing what to expect. Given Anna's facial expression, Zira didn't think it was anything bad. So, what was this about?

"What's up, Anna?" Cyril asked.

Anna stood up, still smiling brightly. In her hands were three new rescue team badges. "I'm proud to announce that the three of you are being promoted to bronze rank. Go ahead and place your old badges on the desk and I'll hand each of you a new badge."

Cyril and Lance both grinned widely as they retrieved their badges from their bags, placing them on the desk. Zira did the same, taking one last look at the badge that she'd been given just the day before. Upon receiving her new badge, Zira took a good look at it. The new badge was virtually identical to the old one, except that it had a bronze-colored crystal in the center rather than a pink crystal.

"Congratulations!" Anna said.

"Thanks, Anna," Cyril said. He turned towards his teammates with tears of joy in his eyes. "We actually did it." He rubbed the tears out of his eyes. "We made it to bronze rank."

"I told you we'd be all right," Lance said, giving the Grovyle a playful slap on the shoulder. He then turned around and shook Zira's hand. "You played a part in this too. Thank you."

Zira looked away briefly as a huge grin broke out on her face. "But I didn't do much," she said, facing Lance again. "All I did was trip over a journal."

"You still did a good job," Cyril said, shaking her hand as well. "Thank you. Both of you."

A clapping sound from across the room suddenly caught their attention. The source of the clapping turned out to be Commander Cale, who was walking towards them with a smile on his face.

"Well, I suppose congratulations are in order," Cale said. "I knew you had what it took to make it to bronze rank."

"Thank you, sir," Cyril said.

Cale nodded and then turned towards the back of the lobby, gesturing with his hand for them to follow. "Come. We have much to talk about."

Cyril and Lance gave each other concerned glances as they proceeded to follow the Nidoking. As Zira walked behind her teammates, she noticed the Fraxure from the other day standing at the job board with his arms crossed. As they passed the Fraxure, Zira locked eyes with the dragon-type Pokémon.

"I'm watching you," the Fraxure said menacingly, pointing at Zira.

Zira stared wide-eyed at the Fraxure for a moment before turning her attention back to her teammates. She didn't know if the Fraxure was threatening her or if he was just annoyed from what happened the other day. In any case, she had other things to worry about at the moment.

Cale led them down the hallway in the back of the lobby and through the farthest door to the right. After Zira stepped through the doorway, Cale closed the door and locked it. As he walked past Team Dakota towards his desk, Lance finally spoke up.

"So, what's this about?" Lance asked.

"I said I'd try to find you some special assignments," Cale said, sitting down behind his desk. "As it turns out, I have a very important mission for you."

Cyril looked at Lance and then back at Cale. "I'm listening."

"This mission has two parts," Cale said. "The first part is a standard search and rescue operation. I've been ordered by my superiors in Emerald City to send a rescue team to locate some missing scientists in a dungeon to the east of here."

"Sounds straight forward enough," Cyril said, his voice full of confidence.

"Not so fast, Cyril," Lance cautioned. Returning his gaze to Cale, he said, "What were they researching? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"Ah, that's where the second part of the mission comes in," Cale said as he stood up and walked around the desk. As he leaned back against his desk, he said, "Are any of you familiar with the legend of Kaiser's artifacts?"

Zira and her teammates shook their heads. Upon seeing this, Cale continued speaking.

"Well, I'm not entirely familiar with the specifics myself, but here's the gist of it," Cale said. "Kaiser was a Human-turned-Charizard and a scientist who lived on Andara more than 400 years ago. Most of this continent was still unexplored at the time, making it an excellent place for a paranoid scientist to conduct his experiments. Kaiser maintained several research labs scattered around Andara inside mystery dungeons that he somehow modified. And, as it turns out, one of his labs is located on floor 12 in the dungeon that you'll be travelling to."

"He modified mystery dungeons?" Cyril asked. "That's incredible!"

"In what ways were these dungeons modified?" Lance asked.

"The main alteration is to the final floor, where he kept his labs," Cale replied. "He prevented the floor from changing across dungeon reconfigurations."

"And what can you tell us about these artifacts?" Zira asked, not wanting to be on the sidelines during the briefing. She desperately wanted to contribute something to the team.

"I can't say much, unfortunately. All I know is that there are six of them and that they have some kind of power. What that power is, your guess is as good as mine." Cale stood up straight and placed his hands behind his back. "So, in addition to locating the scientists, you are to bring back the artifact as well… if possible."

"No problem," Cyril said. "We'll be back by sundown."

"Don't be overconfident, Cyril," Lance cautioned. "This isn't an ordinary dungeon we're dealing with here."

"Lance is right," Cale said. "I've been to this dungeon with Jake and Shar and it's no walk in the park. The stairs leading to the final floor are guarded by a large and aggressive, non-Pokémon creature and there are other nasty surprises sprinkled throughout the dungeon. Be damn careful in there."

"Understood, sir," Cyril said.

"One more thing about the artifact," Cale said. "The legend mentions that no Pokémon may touch these artifacts, which is one of the reasons I picked your team for this mission." Cale looked at Zira. "I'm hoping that you'll be able to break the barrier around the artifact and retrieve it."

Zira's mind immediately latched onto the danger that this could potentially put her in. "But I'm not Human anymore. How do you know that this artifact won't do something awful to me if I touch it?"

"You're still Human in mind and spirit," Lance noted. "That might just be enough, especially when you consider that Kaiser himself was in Pokémon form when he created these artifacts."

"That's what we're hoping," Cale said. "In any case, Zira, I don't think you need to worry about this artifact harming you. If your Human mind and spirit aren't enough to break the barrier around the artifact, you won't be touching it anyway."

Zira was only mildly reassured by Cale's words. There were still a lot of unknowns that they were dealing with here and Cale had made it pretty clear that this was going to be a dangerous mission. However, Zira had to admit that she was curious about this Kaiser guy and the legend surrounding him. What brought him to the Pokémon world? What was the purpose of these artifacts? Why did he create them? And why did he go to such great lengths to keep each artifact isolated rather than work on them in the same lab?

Zira's mind kept running over the questions as Cale directed Team Dakota to a series of maps posted on one of the office walls. On the map depicting the area surrounding Seneca Village, Cale pointed out the dungeon's location within the mountains to the east, commenting that they would have to do some climbing when they got there.

With the briefing complete, Team Dakota left the Federation building. The scent of food from the various restaurants and food carts immediately filled Zira's nostrils, reminding her that she hadn't eaten anything yet. However, Cyril was leading the team out of the square, onto the main road leading east out of town. Zira's stomach growled in protest.

"No breakfast?" Zira asked.

"Sorry, Zira. I couldn't spare any poké today," Cyril said. "We should be able to find some apples and berries along the way."

Zira was disappointed by this bit of news, but there was no way she was going to complain about it. She'd figured out by now that Cyril and Lance were in dire financial straits. Zira began to wonder if perhaps they were overextending themselves by accepting her onto the team. It would seem that she wasn't the only one facing an uncertain future. Perhaps, with the team's promotion, their luck would turn around for the better.

At least, that's what she hoped.

* * *

Cale leaned against the doorframe at the entrance of the Federation building with his arms crossed, watching Team Dakota as they walked out of the square. As they left his line of sight, Cale let out an uneasy sigh. He was sure that Cyril and Lance could handle whatever the dungeon threw at them, both being graduates of the Dakota City University, an institution known for training the best warriors on the continent. However, now they had Zira to look after, and she had almost no experience to speak of. Cale hoped that they would be mindful of her inexperience and not push her too hard, too soon.

"Good luck, you three," Cale said quietly. "May the gods watch over you." He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he failed to notice Jake and Shar walking up behind him.

"I'd be negligent if I didn't point out that this is a violation of our orders," Jake said, his coffee mug in hand. "We were told to send our resident diamond rank team. And I don't recall reading anything in the message about recovering the artifact."

"Yeah," Shar chimed in. "When headquarters finds out about this, they're going to be pissed. You'll receive a formal reprimand for sure."

Cale closed his eyes and sighed. "I know," he replied. Cale opened his eyes and turned towards his colleagues. "In my defense, the legend really does say that no Pokémon may touch these artifacts and, as far as I know, there are no other Humans around here except for that Charmeleon. Recovering the artifact would definitely look good on the report."

"That would be quite the prize," Jake said. "It's still not worth gambling your career though." He took a sip from his coffee mug, his face contorting in pain as he did so. "Ugh! Hot! Hot!"

Cale laughed at the Ampharos. "You drink too much of that stuff. When you went on vacation last month, Alice joked that her coffee sales fell by 50 percent."

"That Kangaskhan must love me," Jake said, wiping coffee off of his face with the back of his hand.

Cale smiled at his friend's comment. After patting Jake on the shoulder, Cale walked past the Ampharos and Flygon as he headed towards the hallway leading to the offices. He still had a considerable amount of paperwork to sort through this morning and it was about time he stopped putting it off.

Cale left the door open as he entered his office. Taking a seat behind his desk, he picked up his fountain pen and turned it over in his hands several times, running his eyes over the smooth, wooden shaft while he thought of what Athena had told him. Kaiser's artifacts. Terrible wars. The end of all things. Cale didn't need legends or prophecy to see that something was terribly wrong on Andara. Athena seemed to think that Zira and the artifacts might be the keys to turning it all around, provided that Team Dakota passed the test.

Athena had instructed Cale to send Team Dakota to Kaiser's dungeon without backup. The Lugia wanted to see if they could handle the trials in store for them and if Zira could actually touch the artifacts. Apparently, not all Humans were compatible with the artifacts or the barriers protecting them. The Federation science team had brought in a couple of former Humans to retrieve the local artifact and neither of them could get past the barrier.

It was rather suspicious that the science team had dropped out of contact just a few days before Athena showed up with her request. It crossed Cale's mind that Athena might've had something to do with their lack of communication. Legendary Pokémon typically respected the laws of whatever society they were in, but it wasn't unheard of for a legendary to go rogue. However, Athena didn't seem to be the evil sort and, besides, the scientists' disappearance could just be a coincidence.

Cale set his fountain pen down and began to sort through the paperwork scattered across his desk when a knock at the door caught his attention. He looked up, seeing both Jake and Shar standing in the doorway.

"Do you have a minute?" Jake asked.

"Of course," Cale replied, nodding as he did so.

Jake walked into the room first, followed by Shar, who closed and locked the door behind him.

 _That looks ominous,_ Cale thought. They certainly weren't here for idle conversation. No, they were here for an explanation.

"Sir," Jake said, "Shar and I were talking about your decision regarding the rescue mission to Kaiser's dungeon and we were wondering… why'd you break our orders?"

"Guys, I know it looks odd," Cale replied. "I take full responsibility for this decision. I'm just asking you to trust me."

"Cale, you and I have been friends for a long time," Jake said. "I trust you with my life. It's just… it isn't like you to violate orders. You've always been a by-the-book guy."

"Yeah, what happened to you last night, Commander?" Shar asked. "I was flying around the town and I saw you just standing in the middle of the road like you didn't have a care in the world."

"Didn't you see anyone standing ahead of me?" Cale asked.

"I thought I saw… something," Shar replied, "but I figured my eyes were just playing tricks on me. With the luminous orbs on that part of the street out, it was too dark to tell."

Cale looked down at his desk and sighed. He had to tell them. Jake and Shar were more than coworkers to him. They were good friends and he trusted them as much as they trusted him. Cale knew that they could keep a secret. With his decision made, he looked up at the waiting duo.

"Have a seat," Cale said. "I'll explain everything."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Zira smiled as she looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining directly overhead in the clear, blue sky and the temperature was pleasantly warm. A light breeze caressed her body as she admired the beauty of the scenery around her. Flowers and trees dotted the grassy landscape and a river flowed alongside the road on which she and her teammates walked. Just ahead, perhaps a few kilometers away, lay a mountain range where their destination should be located.

"Apples!" Cyril exclaimed, suddenly veering off of the road towards a tree. "Let's take a short break."

Zira gazed upon the tree with joy. She'd forgotten about her hunger along the way, but now, seeing the apple tree before her, it was back with a vengeance. Eager to satisfy her hunger, Zira ran over to the tree and plucked off of it two apples, one for each hand. Zira quickly sank her teeth into one of the apples, the sweet juices immediately running over her tongue. She quickly finished off the remainder of the apple. As she started on the second apple, Cyril grinned at her.

"I see your appetite is as healthy as ever," Cyril said. He grabbed two apples of his own. "Not that I should talk. I'm starving too."

"Same here," Lance said, also grabbing two apples.

While Zira's teammates feasted on their apples, she walked over to the nearby stream to quench her thirst. She lay down on her belly by the edge of her stream and dipped her right hand into the clear water. Cupping her hand, Zira scooped several handfuls of water into her mouth. Wiping the excess water from the edges of her mouth, Zira noticed her reflection staring back at her. The irony wasn't lost on Zira, seeing the image of a Charmeleon on the surface of something that now caused her so much misery if it got on her skin. However, despite her new vulnerability to water, she still enjoyed the sight and sound of it.

After Cyril and Lance finished their apples, they walked over to where Zira was, both of them drinking heavily from the stream. Once they were done, Cyril and Lance sat at the edge of the stream with their feet resting in the water. After a moment spent gazing at the serene stream, Lance turned his head towards Zira.

"Well, Zira," Lance said, "do you want to try a mind probe?"

"Now?" Zira asked, sitting up. She found the timing rather curious. After all, they had a job to do.

"We might as well get the ball rolling on recovering your memories," Lance said. Facing Cyril, he asked, "Do you think we can spare a few more minutes?"

Cyril rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… all right. But just a few minutes. We really need to get on with the mission."

"I just want to see what I'm up against," Lance said. He faced Zira once more. "That is, if you're still comfortable with this. I could see things you might not want me to see."

"I understand," Zira said, nodding. She was eager to learn about her past and what brought her to the Pokémon world, despite the possibility that Lance might dig up something embarrassing or unpleasant. "Let's do it."

Lance repositioned himself so that he was facing Zira, sitting close enough that his legs were touching hers. "I'll show you everything that I see. You can tell me to stop at any time." He reached out and gently placed his hands on the sides of Zira's head. "Just try to relax," he said, his eyes beginning to glow blue.

Zira winced as Lance entered her mind. Though his presence was significantly less powerful than Athena's, it was also much less refined. She could feel Lance poking around inside her head. During the course of the mind probe, images of the Human world flashed through Zira's mind. Streets. Buildings. Landmarks. It was all very familiar to her.

"I know this place!" Zira said. "It's Azalea Town in the Johto region!"

"This is one of your strongest memories," Lance noted. "Maybe this is where you lived before you came here. Now, let's see if we can shine some light on your identity."

The images of Azalea Town faded as Lance shifted his attention to other parts of Zira's fractured mind. He was able to retrieve memories of other parts of the Human world with near-perfect clarity, images of a beach, mountains, a forest, and even a few people she didn't recognize flashing through her mind. However, as Lance tried to zero in on specific memories related to Zira's identity and social ties, he seemed to hit a wall of darkness that pushed back against him. He increased the strength of his mind probe, resulting in the formation of a mild headache in Zira's forehead. However, Lance was unable to retrieve anything from the dark void.

"What's with that dark area?" Zira asked, brushing off the pain.

"That void represents the damaged area of your memory," Lance replied. "Recovering those memories isn't going to be easy. They look pretty far gone." His eyes returned to normal as he terminated the psychic link, bringing immediate relief to Zira's head. "Well, it looks like we have our work cut out for us. Sorry if I caused you any discomfort. I'm still rather new at this."

"It's all right," Zira said. "It's a start, at least."

Cyril stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. "All right. Let's get moving."

Zira and Lance got to their feet and walked alongside Cyril, resuming their course for the nearby mountain range. As they left the peaceful river behind, Zira's mind shifted to the dungeon, the dangers within, and to the role she was to play on this mission. The flood of questions and uncertainty threatened to overwhelm her. Zira took in a deep breath as she attempted to put her mind at ease.

After about an hour, soft grass gave way to rocky terrain as Team Dakota entered the mountain range. The path they were on would take them between a series of cliffs. It was on one of these cliffs where the entrance to Kaiser's dungeon awaited. Several minutes later, the team came across a rope ladder with wooden steps hanging from one such cliff.

"This looks like the place," Cyril said.

Zira looked up at the cliff, estimating it to be about 30 meters above the ground. She quickly realized that the cliff itself served as a security measure. The dungeon entrance was well-hidden from the ground and hard to get to for land-bound Pokémon, making this location very appealing to a paranoid Charizard.

"Do you think it was the researchers who placed this ladder here?" Zira asked.

"Makes sense," Lance replied. "A flying-type probably secured it up there for his or her land-bound colleagues." Lance ran his eyes up and down the ladder. "It looks like they attached several ladders together. I hope it's safe."

Cyril mounted the rope ladder and then hopped on it several times. Zira figured that he was just testing the integrity of the ladder, which was confirmed a moment later.

"It seems safe," Cyril said. "Let's head up."

As Cyril began his ascent, Zira stepped up to the ladder next. Just as she stepped onto the first step, Zira became acutely aware of the fact that Lance would have a clear view of her privates as he climbed beneath her. She stepped off the ladder and turned towards Lance.

"Umm… after you," Zira said, motioning towards the ladder.

Lance smiled faintly at Zira. "Still shy, huh?"

Zira felt her face flush. Lance knew what she was afraid of.

"You'll get used to it," Lance said, walking towards the ladder. "Or you'll wind up like that weird guy back in town."

"What weird guy?" Zira asked. What was Lance getting at?

"A Typhlosion," Lance said, mounting the ladder. "The guy always wears a fundoshi. I don't think he realizes that makes him more conspicuous, not less. Anyway, we should get moving. Cyril's way ahead of us."

Lance wasn't kidding about Cyril being way ahead. Cyril was nearly at the top already, the unstable rope ladder doing very little to slow him down. Zira was in awe of the Grovyle's impressive climbing ability. He made it look so easy. That wasn't the case for Lance, his ascent being much slower. Zira took in a deep breath as she mounted the ladder and began to climb.

If there was one thing that could pull Zira's mind off of her troubles, it was the damn rope ladder. With every movement of her body and Lance's body above, the ladder moved as well. To make things even more interesting, the wind was beginning to pick up, causing the ladder to flutter and twist. Zira gripped each step of the ladder as tightly as she could, not even daring to look down.

When Zira reached the top of the ladder, her teammates grabbed her arms and pulled her up onto the cliff. Zira breathed a sigh of relief as she rested on the ground. With the climb now behind her, she glanced at the dungeon entrance. Beyond the shimmering threshold, Zira could see what, for the most part, appeared to be an ordinary cavern. She knew better, however. Zira was familiar enough with these dungeons now to know that their odd entrances concealed the dangers that lurked within.

"All right, let's get to work," Cyril said. He pointed towards the dungeon entrance with his arm stretched outward. "Onward!"

As Cyril marched towards the dungeon entrance, Zira regarded the Grovyle with a curious expression on her face.

"He's in an awfully good mood," Zira said.

"I hope he's not letting our promotion go to his head," Lance said. "Come on. Let's follow him before he marches 'onward' into trouble."

Zira and Lance quickly caught up with their teammate, not wanting the entrance to send them somewhere else on the first floor. Cyril entered the dungeon first, followed by Zira and Lance, the frigid wind of the mysterious entrance lashing at their bodies as they passed through.

Emerging on the other side, Zira immediately scanned her surroundings. The dungeon was a rocky cavern with a dirt floor. Small patches of grass and other plant life were scattered about. Sunlight poured in through holes in the ceiling, illuminating the cavern well enough that one could see without difficulty. There was a considerable amount of moisture in the air and Zira could hear the echo of water droplets in the distance.

"Let's move out," Cyril said. He took a step forward, then the ground beneath him suddenly gave out, revealing a pitfall trap filled with spikes. Cyril cried out in terror as he fell into the pit, just barely grabbing onto the edge in front of him.

"Oh gods! Cyril!" Lance called out. Using his psychic attack, he grabbed Cyril's hands and quickly lifted him out of the pit, setting him down harshly a few meters away from its edge.

Cyril stood up and brushed himself off, trembling as he did so. He walked over to the edge of the pit and peered into its depths. "Well, t-that was certainly a shock."

Lance stomped over to Cyril and grabbed his shoulder, roughly spinning the Grovyle around to face him. "You need to be more careful," Lance said, the anger evident in his voice.

Cyril looked into Lance's eyes for a moment before responding. "Y-yeah, you're right."

Zira looked around, wondering if there were any more traps in the room. As she slowly ran her eyes across the surface of the floor, Zira noticed several small areas where the color of the dirt varied slightly, including one area just a couple of meters from where she was standing. Zira walked over to the unusual patch of dirt and gently placed pressure on it with one foot. The ground beneath her foot caved in, revealing another pitfall trap.

"These traps are everywhere," Zira said. "Watch out for the light patches of dirt."

"That's a lot of traps," Lance said. "More than what's usually seen in a room. This has to be one of Kaiser's modifications."

"Y-yeah, probably," Cyril said, still shaken from his close brush with death. "Let's get out of this room."

The three Pokémon cautiously made their way towards the only exit in the room, avoiding several traps along the way. It took several minutes to reach the exit due to their slow pace, but when they did, they each breathed a sigh of relief. While the team took a moment to relax, Zira looked down the corridor. Off in the distance, Zira could see the next room at the other end, reminding her that they still had a long way to go in a dungeon full of nasty surprises. Zira mentally prepared herself for the challenges that lay ahead.

 _This is just the beginning,_ Zira thought.

Zira and her teammates proceeded down the corridor towards the next room, moving at a quicker pace this time since traps were not an issue in dungeon corridors—at least, not in any normal dungeon. Zira hoped that the same rule also applied to this dungeon. In any case, since feral Pokémon were still a threat, Zira kept herself primed for a fight. She kept looking back to make sure that there were no ferals behind them. And yet, no ferals showed up. Zira wasn't sure how large this floor was, but there didn't seem to be any feral activity in the immediate area.

Upon entering the next room, the thing that stood out the most to Zira was not the stairs leading up to the next floor, but rather the pedestal next to the stair upon which sat an orb. As Team Dakota approached the pedestal, Zira noticed an inscription on it that read, "Leave this place."

"What in the world…" Cyril said.

"Well, that's an escape orb," Lance noted. "I guess Kaiser wanted to give people a chance to leave."

"We won't be leaving just yet," Cyril said, "but it wouldn't hurt to have this orb just in case things get too crazy for us to handle." Cyril stepped closer to the pedestal and grabbed the escape orb. He then handed it to Zira. "I want you to have this. If it looks like we've lost control of the situation, go ahead and activate it. You can do that by giving it a good squeeze or smashing it against a solid surface."

"Understood," Zira said as she accepted the orb. Holding it with both hands, Zira gazed into its depths. The faint, blue glow emanating from the center had a calming, almost soothing effect on Zira's troubled mind. The effect was short-lived, however, as a sudden electrical disturbance surrounding the top of the pedestal where the orb had been made Zira and her teammates jump. When the disturbance vanished, a new escape orb lay upon the pedestal.

"Fascinating," Lance said.

"More like creepy," Cyril said. "Let's get this mission over with quickly. This dungeon's starting to creep me out."

As her teammates headed up the stairs, Zira took one more look at the escape orb in her hands. Then, placing the orb in her bag, she followed her teammates up the stairs.

The next floor was a single enormous room. Team Dakota appeared on one end of the room. The stairs were clear on the other side. In between was a whole lot of nothing. It seemed pretty straightforward to Zira, but she had a bad feeling about this. Her teammates seemed to be feeling similar unease.

"I don't see any traps on the floor," Cyril said. "Monster house, perhaps?"

"If that were the case, ferals would've appeared the moment we entered the room," Lance said. "There's something wrong here. We just aren't seeing it yet."

After a moment's hesitation, Zira and her teammates cautiously walked towards the stairs. Zira's stomach felt like it was tied into a knot as the uncertainty of the situation ate away at her. Back in the Howling Woods dungeon, Zira took some comfort in that her teammates were experienced and they knew what to expect with that dungeon. Here, however, Cyril and Lance were as much in the dark as she was and their faces showed it.

Having crossed half of the room without incident, Zira allowed herself to relax a bit. Perhaps this room wasn't so bad after all.

"Grrr!" something growled from behind, making Zira and her teammates jump.

Zira spun around towards the source of the growl. Standing several meters from her was a Charmeleon that looked exactly like herself. The Charmeleon bared its teeth and growled once more as it took a step towards her.

"Grrr-ah!" A feral Grovyle that looked just like Cyril now approached the team.

The sound of another growl drew the team's attention to a feral Golduck that looked like Lance running towards them. The feral copies had Team Dakota surrounded.

"I think we just found this floor's challenge," Lance said, readying his claws.

Zira readied her slash attack as she stared at her doppelgänger. After what felt like an eternity, the feral Charmeleon charged towards her, screaming as it readied a slash attack of its own. Zira braced herself for the attack. With her copy rapidly closing the distance, a hydro pump suddenly smacked the feral Charmeleon in the head, breaking its neck. Lance then cried out in pain behind her.

Lance's copy had taken advantage of his preoccupation with Zira's opponent, scratching him in the back and pinning him to the ground with the side of his head pressed into the dirt. Before the feral Golduck could deliver the killing blow, Zira charged towards it, throwing herself into the feral. Despite her smaller size, she was able to knock the copy off of Lance. Zira quickly got back onto her feet and readied her slash attack. Before she could do anything, however, the feral Golduck quickly pointed its glowing eyes towards her, delivering a psychic blow right into her chest that knocked her onto her back. With the wind knocked out of her, Zira struggled to get up. She managed to raise her head just enough to see the feral Golduck, now back on its feet, take in a deep breath, presumably getting ready to finish her off with one of its water-based attacks. Before it could do so, however, a bullet seed attack shredded the feral Golduck.

"Are you two all right?" Cyril asked, running towards his fallen teammates, having already defeated his own copy.

Zira managed to push herself up into a sitting position, though she was still having a bit of trouble breathing. "I'm… I'm all right." She looked at Lance. "He's hurt."

Cyril rushed over to Lance, who was now sitting. "Is it bad?"

"He scratched my back pretty good," Lance replied with a pained expression on his face. "I'll be all right."

Cyril moved around Lance to get a look at his back. "You're not all right. These are deep cuts. My gods… you're lucky your spine wasn't severed." Cyril walked back around Lance and reached into his bag, retrieving their only oran berry. "Eat this," he said. When Lance hesitated, Cyril became more insistent. "Lance, just eat it. Please."

Hesitating a moment longer, Lance finally relented, taking the oran berry and tossing it into his mouth.

While the oran berry did its work on Lance's back, Cyril began to pace back and forth. He was clearly frustrated, placing his hands on his head as though to keep it from flying off of his neck.

"Calm yourself, Cyril," Lance said. "This isn't the first time one of us has been injured on a job and it likely won't be the last."

"That was a serious injury, Lance," Cyril said, "and it happened at the hands of a copy. What if we encounter better copies later on in this dungeon? Will we be so lucky then?"

"I don't know, but we'll just have to deal with that when and if the time comes," Lance said, now standing. "In the meantime, there's some scientists in this dungeon that still need our help. Assuming we're continuing the mission, of course."

"I'm not giving up on those scientists," Cyril said. "Let's just hope this is as bad as this dungeon gets."

As Cyril and Lance turned towards the stairs, Zira got a glimpse of Lance's back. The deeper cuts were still slightly open while the smaller cuts had scarred over. A pang of guilt hit Zira, knowing that this happened to him because he was protecting her.

"Lance, I don't mean to sound ungrateful," Zira said, "but you didn't have to do that for me."

"No offense, Zira, but you're still very new at this," Lance said. "Until your combat abilities have developed, Cyril and I are responsible for your safety." He looked back at Zira. "Thanks for getting that other Golduck off of me."

"No problem," Zira said. "I just wish I could've done more."

"You'll be a seasoned warrior someday," Cyril said. "Lance and I will work with you every day."

Zira knew they were right, that she'd just have to be patient, but that didn't make her feel like any less of a liability. What if they encountered more copies? Or worse? The thought of Cyril or Lance getting seriously hurt or killed due to her inexperience sent a chill through Zira's body.

"Hey, check that out!" Cyril said, shaking Zira from her thoughts.

Cyril was pointing towards a familiar pedestal next to the stairs, bearing an identical inscription to the pedestal on the first floor and an equally identical orb.

"Maybe there's one of these on every floor," Cyril said. "I just can't figure out why Kaiser even bothered with these things if he wanted to stop intruders so badly."

"Hmm…" Lance said, stroking his beak. "I'm guessing that Kaiser was hoping that any unwelcome guests would become so unnerved or frustrated that they'd take the easy way out and just use the escape orb."

"Well, in any case, it wouldn't hurt to have another one." Cyril grabbed the orb and handed it to Lance. Turning towards the stairs, he said, "Let's go."

As Zira followed Cyril up the stairs, she said, "I hope we don't see any more copies." She heard Lance snicker behind her.

"You and me both," Lance said.

Emerging on the third floor, the thing that struck Zira the most about the room they were now in was the stone wall in the center of the room. It appeared to have some writing on it, but Zira couldn't make out any of it from a distance. Beyond the wall, on the far side of the room, was the room's exit. Aside from the wall, there was nothing remarkable about the room. There didn't even appear to be any traps on the floor.

"Keep your guard up," Cyril said.

A cloud of apprehension fell upon Zira and her teammates as they made their way towards the odd stone wall. The wall was obviously the next challenge. How difficult would it be to overcome this challenge and what would happen if they failed?

As they approached the wall, Zira could see that it contained 10 lines of text with a rectangular notch at the end of each line. Zira surmised that something was meant to be inserted into the notches. Standing in front of the wall, she looked down and, sure enough, there was a tray running the entire length of the wall upon which ten stone blocks lay, each of them bearing writing.

"These are riddles," Zira said. "These blocks are the answers."

"Well, let's not touch anything," Cyril said, sounding rather uneasy. "The exit's over there. Let's just go."

"We're not getting out of this that easily, Cyril," Lance said.

"Huh? Why not?" Cyril asked.

"Oh, this warning right here," Lance replied, looking at a sign next to the wall. "It says, 'You must correctly answer these questions to proceed. Failure to do so will result in a monster house.'"

Cyril rubbed his face with his right hand. "Zira, get that escape orb ready."

"What's going on?" Zira asked, raising her voice slightly as she retrieved the escape orb from her bag. "What's a monster house?"

"A lot of feral Pokémon drop in from the ceiling," Cyril replied.

Zira stared blankly at Cyril for a moment as her mind processed what he'd just told her. "Oh fuck…"

"Yeah, pretty much," Cyril said. "We're not equipped to deal with a monster house, so if it starts raining Pokémon in here, don't hesitate to use that orb."

"Don't worry, you two," Lance said, his voice full of confidence. "I'm good with riddles."

Cyril failed to stifle a laugh. "Well, if you trigger a monster house, at least I'll finally be able to tease you about something."

"Cute, Cyril," Lance said, giving Cyril a sideways glance. "I'm going to prank you so hard when we get back home."

Zira smiled at the light-hearted exchange. With as uncertain as their situation was, it was nice to have something to break up the tension. As Lance set to work on the riddle wall, Zira and Cyril moved a short distance from the wall to allow Lance to work in peace.

"How are you holding up?" Zira asked Cyril, wanting to strike up some conversation to pass the time.

"Honestly, this place gives me the creeps," Cyril replied. "I'll be a lot happier as soon as we get out of this place."

"Yeah, me too," Zira said. She glanced at the riddle wall. Lance had already solved two of the riddles. A green glow emanated from the edges of the inserted blocks. Zira figured that must mean the answers were correct. "Looking good so far."

"Lance is pretty good with anything that challenges the mind," Cyril said. "Me on the other hand, I'd be getting us into trouble with the first riddle."

"I don't think I'm too good with riddles either," Zira said, still watching Lance. He'd correctly answered two more riddles. "How long have you and Lance known each other?"

"Since early childhood," Cyril replied. "He was my first friend and we quickly became best friends. We do pretty much everything together, go everywhere together. He means a lot to me."

"When I first met you guys, it seemed like you two worked really well together," Zira said.

"The irony is he and I are polar opposites in many ways," Cyril said. "I admit that I'm a hothead. I'm always rushing into things without thinking them through. Lance has always counterbalanced my worst tendencies. He's always steering me into the right direction, never letting me get lost in the woods. I'm eternally grateful for his friendship."

Zira smiled as Cyril finished speaking. The bond between Cyril and Lance was a strong one. Such a bond could weather any storm, overcome any challenge. Zira had to admit that she was envious of their friendship. Perhaps one day, she too could have such a friendship. Or maybe she did and she just couldn't remember it.

"All done!" Lance said. Zira and Cyril stood up.

"That was easy," Cyril said.

"Easy?" Lance said, placing his hands on his hips. "You didn't even do anything except for talk to Zira. Not that I didn't appreciate what you said about me, but still…" He had a grin on his face, indicating his playful intentions.

"Uh, you heard all of that?" Cyril asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, I'm not deaf, Cyril," Lance said. He gestured towards the room's exit. "Shall we go?"

"Y-yeah," Cyril said. The green part of his face was beginning to turn red.

Zira suppressed a laugh as she placed the escape orb she was holding back into her bag, relieved that she didn't have to use it.

Leaving the riddle wall behind, Team Dakota headed for the room's exit, entering a long, straight corridor. Zira could see the next room far in the distance, at least several hundred meters away. Zira sighed uneasily. The light-hearted mood from moments ago had vanished, replaced by the apprehension from before, and the constant sound of dripping water in the distance was beginning to fray her nerves. After they had traversed half of the corridor, it even seemed like the walls were closing in on them.

"The walls are moving!" Lance shouted. "Run!"

Zira's heart jumped as she began to sprint. They weren't crazy. The walls really were moving and they still had a couple hundred meters to cover before reaching the next room. Zira ran with every bit of energy she could muster. Even so, she and Lance were both trailing behind the speedy Grovyle. As the walls continued to close in on them, it crossed Zira's mind that she and Lance might not make it out. With about a hundred meters to go, the corridor had narrowed to the point that they were running single-file with Zira in the center. Up ahead, Cyril was nearing the end of the corridor. The relative safety of the next room was so close.

 _Almost there,_ Zira thought. She struggled to coax a bit more speed out of her tired body. The walls were now so narrow that her arms and bag were making contact with the rocky surfaces.

"Hurry!" Cyril shouted. He'd made it out of the corridor and was now thoroughly freaking out.

Zira felt like she was about to collapse as she neared the end of the corridor. With about ten meters to go, she and Lance had to move sideways. The base of her tail was pressed against the wall behind her and the wall in front was beginning to press on her belly. When she came up on the last meter, Zira hopped into the room, stumbling and falling onto the floor. A moment later, Lance stumbled into the room, nearly landing on top of her.

"Thank the gods, you two are all right," Cyril said, kneeling by his teammates. "That was too close."

"Yeah," Zira said, panting heavily from the exertion. "I thought… we were done for."

Zira slowly stood up with the assistance of Cyril. When Cyril turned his attention to Lance, Zira leaned over, placing her hands on her thighs. Her heart was still beating furiously in her chest and her tail's flame was burning with an intensity of which she'd never seen. Zira glanced back at the corridor. The walls were tightly pressed against each other. If she and Lance had been just a few seconds slower, they would've been crushed to death. How much worse was this dungeon going to get?

"Maybe Kaiser died in one of his own dungeons," Zira said, standing up straight.

"It's possible," Lance said, "but I doubt it. If Kaiser could modify dungeons, then it's likely that he constructed a back door connecting to the last floor so he didn't have to deal with this crap."

"And the researchers?" Cyril asked.

Lance shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. They've made back and forth trips, so it's possible they found the back door if it exists. Otherwise, it's possible that they perished in one of Kaiser's traps. All it would take is one mistake."

"If a back door existed," Zira said, "wouldn't Cale have known about it?"

"Maybe the researchers never told him," Cyril said, walking towards the pedestal. He grabbed the escape orb and placed it in his bag. "Let's get going."

* * *

Cale took a deep breath of the fresh afternoon air as he stepped outside. It felt good to get away from his desk and move about. He'd been sitting pretty much non-stop since he'd sent Team Dakota to Kaiser's dungeon several hours ago and his legs needed a good stretch. It was a perfect opportunity to patrol the streets, something he didn't get to do much since being promoted to the rank of commander. Surveying the square from his vantage point at the outpost's entrance, Cale spotted Shar sitting on the edge of the fountain.

 _Strange,_ Cale thought. Shar really should be at home getting some sleep. Cale figured that Shar was troubled by something. He walked over to his friend to find out what.

"How are you, Shar?" Cale asked, taking a seat beside the Flygon.

"I'm all right," Shar replied. "I've just been thinking about what you told Jake and I this morning. I mean… if what this Lugia told you is true, this is huge."

"I believe she can be trusted," Cale said. "I just hope Team Dakota is careful in that dungeon."

"Yeah, me too," Shar said. "You know, I… um…"

Cale looked at Shar. "What is it?"

Shar sighed. "I'm worried about Lance."

"He'll make it. They all will." Cale looked around to make sure no one was nearby. "Are you two seeing each other?"

"Well… not yet," Shar replied. "He seems like a nice enough guy and I've been wanting to ask him if he'd be interested in another male for a mate, but I've been too afraid to ask the question."

"I don't think it would hurt to ask him," Cale said. "Even if he's not interested, Lance doesn't seem like the type who'd try to ruin your career. Just be careful, Shar."

"I know," Shar said before Cale could say more. "Whichever way this goes, I'll have to keep it a secret."

Silence fell between the two friends. Cale stared down at the ground, not knowing what direction to take the conversation. He felt bad for Shar, but there really wasn't anything he could do to help his friend. Homosexuals weren't permitted to join Federation Security or hold public office and Shar was gambling his career by pursuing such a relationship. It was just one of many examples of inequality still remaining in Andaran society, a relic of Andara's dark past before the formation of the Federation ten years ago.

"By the way," Shar said, shaking Cale from his thoughts. "I overheard you telling Team Dakota that story about the explorers and smugglers. I guess that's why they call you Cale the Ruthless."

"I hate the nickname, Shar," Cale said. "I was just doing my job."

"I understand," Shar said. "I know you either arrested or killed all of the smugglers, but what happened to the explorers?"

Cale sighed. "They got away. When we launched our attack, they fired up a magnagate and left. They even made certain that the smugglers couldn't follow them through."

"Wow, that's cold," Shar said. "Are you still searching for them?"

"I put out bulletins from time to time, but the trail's gone cold," Cale replied. "I think it's safe to say they got away."

Another moment of silence ensued, then Shar yawned. Standing up, he said, "I'm going to get some sleep." He took a few steps and then looked back at Cale. "Maybe you'll find them someday."

As Shar walked away, Cale stared ahead at nothing in particular, lost in his thoughts. "Maybe…"

A loud crash to the left suddenly caught Cale's attention. A scuffle had broken out between a merchant and a customer at a nearby stall. Cale jumped up and rushed over to break up the fight, grateful for the distraction.

* * *

The next several floors of Kaiser's dungeon were mercifully like those of an ordinary dungeon with the exception of the strange pedestals that Kaiser placed throughout. It seemed like Kaiser never finished tweaking the dungeon. There was sporadic feral activity on each floor, but nothing that Cyril and Lance couldn't handle. Zira managed to get in some flamethrower practice. Her attacks were becoming more and more reliable, giving Zira a much-needed confidence boost.

The 10th floor was a gigantic maze. Zira estimated it took at least a couple of hours to traverse it. Lance had taken the lead after Cyril had led them in circles. The Golduck's memory was considerably sharper than those of his teammates. When they finally made it to the stairs, Zira immediately noticed the lack of a pedestal. A feeling of dread fell upon Zira as this likely was not a good sign of what was to come.

"There's no pedestal here," Zira noted.

"We're approaching the end of the line," Lance said. "According to Cale, the next floor contains some kind of giant, hostile creature."

"I wish we knew more than that," Cyril said. "I really should've asked more questions."

As the team climbed the stairs to the 11th floor, Zira took in a deep, nervous breath. This was it. Everything hinged on how they handled this floor.

Immediately after crossing the threshold to the next floor, Zira noticed just how much warmer it was. She could see the stairs and some large rock formations on the far side of the room, across a chasm from which an orange glow emanated. A narrow rope bridge extended across the chasm. And nearby, right in front of the bridge, lay another one of Kaiser's pedestals. However, the inscription on this pedestal differed from the others. This one read, "Last chance. Death awaits on the other side."

"I guess this is really it," Cyril said. He looked away from the pedestal, scanning the chasm before them. "What's with that orange glow?"

Cyril walked towards the chasm, followed by his teammates. The very instant that Cyril got a look at what was in the chasm, he abruptly turned around and quickly walked away, nearly knocking over Zira. It turned out that the chasm was filled with magma.

"Oh gods!" Cyril said, placing his hands on his head.

"It's just lava," Lance said.

"Just lava?" Cyril spun around towards Lance. "I can feel my leaves wilting just being near that pit."

Zira was still standing by the edge of the chasm, relishing the warm air currents circulating around her. "I think it feels good."

Lance chuckled. "You could probably go swimming in the stuff, Zira. It'd feel just like a hot tub to you."

"Oh, enough!" Cyril said, gripping his head once more. He began to walk towards the bridge. "Let's just get across this thing as quickly as we can."

Cyril stopped just before the bridge. He inhaled deeply and then took off running at full speed, the rope bridge bouncing beneath his feet. However, despite the unstable surface, Cyril never once lost his balance. Zira once again found herself impressed with the Grovyle's abilities.

Zira and Lance traversed the bridge next, walking along at a relaxed pace while Cyril waited on the other side with his arms crossed. When they stepped onto solid ground, Zira smiled at Cyril. She was just about to say something to him when the sound of something snapping from behind grabbed her attention. Zira spun around just in time to see the rope bridge fall into the magma below.

"No going back," Lance noted. "Fortunately, we already have a few escape orbs."

"Let's hope we don't have to use them," Cyril said. "We've come too far to throw it all away."

As Cyril headed for the stairs, Zira and Lance exchanged nervous glances before following their leader. None of them really knew what to expect of this creature that they were to encounter, their only clues being large and aggressive. Zira let out a nervous sigh. The closer they came to the stairs, the more jittery she became. As Team Dakota walked between the large rock formations, the ground sudden began to rumble. Zira and her teammates stopped dead in their tracks as the ground shook with increasing intensity. As they struggled to maintain their balance, something ruptured the ground ahead of them with such force that it knocked all three of them off of their feet.

A giant green, clawed fist had forced its way through the ground. It was shortly followed by another hand, and then a reptilian head resembling that of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Zira watched in horror as the massive reptilian creature lifted its muscular body out of the ground. It stood upright on a pair of digitigrade legs ending in clawed feet. A long, thick tail tipped with a spike and a pair of curved blades completed the terrifying creature.

For a moment, the creature stared at Zira and her teammates with its yellow eyes. Then it let out a deafening roar, so loud that the dungeon seemed to shake. The creature tilted back its head and opened its mouth, no doubt preparing to launch an attack.

"Take cover!" Cyril shouted.

Zira dove behind the rock formation to her right, just barely dodging an attack that resembled a seriously powered-up bullet seed. To Zira, it was more like a cannon seed. The attack lasted for several seconds. The creature stopped to take a breath, and then launched another cannon seed attack. Zira didn't dare move from behind her hiding spot. She was effectively pinned down, as were her teammates, and she was unsure how long the rock formations would protect them from the relentless assault. The situation seemed hopeless. Zira reached into her bag and retrieved the escape orb, just in case things took a turn for the worst.

"Is there anything we can do?" Zira called out.

"I'm not sure!" Cyril shouted back. "I don't see any good options!"

"If only we had some blast seeds!" Lance yelled.

Cyril snapped his head towards Lance. "Seriously? You're making jokes _now_?"

Another attack shattered some of the stone near Zira, showering her in debris. She clutched the escape orb in her hands so tightly that she threatened to activate it. The rock formations that protected them were going to give out eventually, or the creature would get tired of wasting its energy and simply charge at them. Either way, they were running out of time.

"Should I use the orb?" Zira shouted.

"Wait!" Lance shouted. "Cyril! Use the totter seed!"

Cyril reached into his bag, digging through it for a moment, and pulled out what Zira hoped was their ticket out of this mess.

"Can you distract it?" Cyril shouted.

Lance looked around for a moment before setting his eyes on a nearby boulder. He lifted the boulder with his psychic attack and flung it backwards over the rock formation that sheltered him. It was a blind shot, but luck was on Lance's side. The creature cried out in agony as the boulder struck its right shoulder. Cyril leaped out from behind his cover and tossed the totter seed at the creature. Upon detonation, the creature screamed and became badly disoriented, stumbling forward as it clutched its head with its good arm.

"Now's our chance!" Cyril shouted. The leaf on his head began to glow as he took in a deep breath. After a moment, Cyril unleashed a powerful solar beam, hitting the creature in the center of the chest. At the same time, Lance unleashed an equally impressive hyper beam into the same location. The combined attack blasted a hole in the creature's chest, killing it instantly. It collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Zira emerged from her hiding spot, still holding the escape orb in her hands. She joined up with the others as they headed towards the fallen creature to inspect their work. Under ordinary circumstances, there would be no doubt that the creature was dead, but this dungeon had been anything but ordinary and her teammates no doubt wanted to make sure that it wasn't going to somehow spring back to life. They studied it for about a minute before one of them finally spoke.

"I'm not sensing any brain activity," Lance said. "I think it's safe to say it's dead."

Cyril nodded. "Let's finish the mission and get out of this place."

Zira placed the escape orb back in her bag as she followed her teammates towards the stairs. With the final obstacle out of the way, there was hopefully nothing left standing in their way. As Zira ascended the stairs to the final floor, she took in an anxious breath. This was it. They'd made it to the final floor. Now it was time to find some answers.

To Zira's surprise, the final floor was nothing like the others. Rather than a dreary cavern, this floor was a lush, beautiful grassy landscape with a large pond occupying the center of the room surrounded by trees and flowers. The sun shone from directly overhead in the clear blue sky. Oh, how good it felt to see the sun again, even if it wasn't exactly the real thing. This floor was a slice of paradise in an otherwise terrifying dungeon. Not far from the pond lay a stone cottage, no doubt their final destination.

"This is pleasant," Zira said.

"It certainly is," Lance said. "Kaiser really wanted to work in comfort." He surveyed their surrounding for a moment and then pointed towards something in the distance. "There's the exit."

Zira turned her attention towards the exit. From this distance, she could just barely make out the shimmering image of the outside world projected on the dungeon wall. It was good to know where it was in the event that they had to make a quick getaway. Despite the peaceful surroundings, they were still in a dungeon and dangers could still be lurking. After all, there must've been a reason for the scientists' lack of communication.

"Let's find those researchers," Cyril said, heading for the cottage.

The interior of the cottage was what one would expect of a non-electric laboratory. The main room contained several large chalk boards, bulletin boards, and tables. There was a solidly-built desk in the corner to the left with what appeared to be a Pokémon-made manual typewriter sitting on top of it. Papers and notebooks were scattered all over the place, some of which were clearly aged and some that looked fairly new. Zira figured the newer papers and notebooks belonged to the scientists. And in the back of the room sat another one of Kaiser's pedestals surrounded by a forcefield. A strange silver object sat atop the pedestal that looked like it might be a helmet.

"We've got some blood here," Lance said, looking down at the floor. There were several streaks of blood on the floor, all leading to a closed door to the right. Lance walked over to the door and slowly opened it. "Oh gods…"

Zira and Cyril rushed over to take a look inside. On the floor lay the lifeless bodies of a Flygon, a Breloom, a Lucario, and a Raichu. Their hands were bound behind their backs where they all exhibited a single, deep slash wound. A wave of sadness fell upon Zira. They had failed to save a single scientist.

"No…" Zira said. "We were too late."

Lance kneeled by the body of the Flygon and inspected it. "There wasn't anything we could've done. They've been dead for a few days."

"They were all bound and killed the same way," Cyril said. "This was an execution."

"Executed…" Zira said. "By whom?"

"I don't know," Cyril replied, "but let's get out of here before we're next. Lance…" His voice trailed off. "Take one of their badges," he said quietly. "We'll need it to prove that we found them."

Lance nodded and then removed the Andaran Federation badge from the Flygon's bag. Then Team Dakota quietly exited the room.

"Does anyone want to say anything for them?" Cyril asked, holding the door open.

Zira remained silent, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say.

"May the gods watch over you," Lance said quietly.

Cyril softly closed the door, staring at it for several seconds afterward before turning towards his teammates. "Well… there's just one thing left to so." He looked into Zira's eyes. "It's time, Zira."

Zira nodded. It was finally time to fulfill her purpose on this mission. She headed for the pedestal, her teammates following closely behind. A mixture of excitement and anxiety washed over Zira. What would it mean if she could retrieve this artifact, something that no other Human thus far has been able to do? What would this artifact do to her? Or would this part of the mission be for naught?

Standing in front of the pedestal, Zira took in a deep breath as she slowly raised a hand up to the force field. When her hand made contact with the barrier, electrical arcs formed around the point of intrusion. However, there was no resistance from the force field. Her hand passed freely through. She'd passed the first test. Now she had to retrieve the artifact, an action with consequences unknown to her. Zira took in another deep breath and then she quickly yanked the artifact from its resting place.

"I'm not dead!" Zira said after a few seconds, overjoyed that her worst fears hadn't come true.

"That's always a good thing," Cyril said. "It looks like some kind of helmet."

Zira gazed at the unusual helmet in her hands, running her eyes over its mostly undecorated silver surface, the exception being a ruby-like gem on top. It was much too large for her to wear. At first, Zira thought it was designed for a Charizard, Kaiser himself being one, but the shape was off. The snout of the helmet was too angular for a normal Charizard and the back of the helmet was designed to accommodate a Pokémon with three horns. Zira wondered if Kaiser designed it for a Mega Charizard Y. But why would he do that? Was he capable of mega evolution? Did he design this helmet for himself or for someone else?

"Well, we got what we came for," Cyril said. "Let's go home."

"Not so fast," an unknown male said from behind. "We'll be taking that now."

Zira and her teammates spun around towards the source of the voice. Standing at the entrance were a Sceptile, a Garchomp, and a Weavile. The three Pokémon each wore a green armband with a white logo that Zira couldn't make out, apparently a team of some sort. Explorers perhaps? In any case, the three Pokémon appeared ready for a fight.

"Who are you?" Cyril asked, raising his voice.

"None of your damn business," the Sceptile replied. "Hand over the artifact or die."

Zira wasn't sure what to do. Whoever these Pokémon were, they clearly intended to deliver on their threat. After a long, tense moment, Cyril looked back at Zira.

"Toss it over to them," Cyril said.

Zira couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Were they giving it up so easily? Or perhaps Cyril had a plan. Zira complied with Cyril's order, tossing the helmet towards the Sceptile.

The Sceptile stepped forward with a joyous expression on his face, holding out his arms to catch the helmet. The instant he caught it, the Sceptile's face suddenly went blank. He doubled over and fell face-first onto the ground, landing on the helmet before coming to rest on his side.

A collective gasp sounded throughout the room, the shock of what just happened hitting everyone like an anvil. Suddenly, Lance fired a hyper beam at the Weavile, blasting a hole through the Weavile's chest and the wall beyond. The blast wave and debris knocked the Garchomp off his feet and injured his right arm. The Garchomp quickly got to his feet and fled the scene through the hole in the wall, holding onto his ruined arm.

After the shock from what just happened wore off, Zira and her teammates gathered around the fallen Sceptile and the helmet. Zira placed her fingers on the Sceptile's throat, just under the jaw, checking for a pulse.

"Don't bother, Zira," Lance said. "There's no brain activity. He's as dead as can be."

Zira retracted her hand. "So that's why no Pokémon can handle these artifacts. They suck the life out of any Pokémon who touches them. Do you think they're the ones that killed the researchers?"

"I'd say definitely," Cyril said. He had been searching through the Sceptile's bag, among the included items being an Explorers Guild badge and a notebook. "They have notes on Kaiser's artifacts and these researchers. I wonder how they even—"

Cyril was cut off by an agonizing scream in the distance. There was little doubt it was the Garchomp. What could've happened to him?"

"Time to go," Cyril said, stuffing what he'd recovered from the Sceptile's bag into his own. "Don't forget the artifact, Zira."

Zira grabbed the helmet and gave it a cursory inspection as she stood up. It didn't appear to be damaged. She couldn't even locate a scratch on its silver surface. There was no space in her bag to store the helmet, so she held it under her left arm. As her teammates headed for the hole in the wall, Zira took one last glance at the lab, knowing that it was likely she was never going to see it again.

The instant that Zira stepped outside the cottage, the walls of the dungeon suddenly shimmered all at once and the ground began to shake. The sky turned an eerie shade of purple and the wind began to howl.

"What's happening?" Zira asked, raising her voice.

"I… I don't know," Cyril said, clearly unnerved by the sudden turn of events.

Zira scanned her surroundings, searching for some clue that would explain what was happening. To her horror, the trees that made up the dungeon walls were suddenly ripped away, revealing the purple void beyond. Then the ground around the edges of the room began to dissolve into the void as well.

"The dungeon's collapsing!" Lance shouted. "Run!"

Team Dakota headed for the dungeon exit with great haste. They passed by the body of the Garchomp—or rather what was left of him. The Garchomp had been ripped in half. Zira looked back at Kaiser's lab just in time to see it ripped apart and devoured by the void. This was no doubt Kaiser's final security measure to prevent his creation from falling into the wrong hands.

With the exit now very close, Zira began to believe that they just might make it with time to spare. However, her hopes were dashed when another reptilian creature like before crawled out of a fissure beside the exit. With the destruction of the floor continuing behind them, they would have to end this fight quickly. As Cyril and Lance launched their most powerful attacks at the creature, Zira decided to contribute with her flamethrower reconfigured into a fireball, a trick she'd learned on one of the lower floors. She took in a deep breath as she summoned the power within her. A curious sensation arose in her chest as she did so. It didn't feel like any other flamethrower she'd produced. It felt far more powerful. When Zira finally exhaled, releasing the energy she'd built up, a superheated ball of plasma left her mouth, striking the creature in the chest and sending it flying backward into the dungeon wall. Cyril and Lance both looked back at her wide-eyed and mouths agape.

"What was that?" Cyril asked.

"Nevermind that!" Lance shouted, shoving Cyril towards the exit.

Zira and her teammates sprinted past the fallen creature and ran with everything they had through the exit. Emerging on the other side in torrential rainfall, they turned to look at the exit. The rock face continued to shimmer for several more seconds with increasing intensity, then it emitted a blinding white light. Zira shielded her eyes with her free hand until the light vanished a moment later. The dungeon, it would seem, was gone forever.

Team Dakota took a moment to relax. They were all panting heavily from the running and the powerful attacks, Zira most of all. The plasma burst had really taken a lot out of her. Too much. Her chest ached and she even felt a bit light-headed for a few seconds. There was no way she'd be able to fire off that move consecutively. It was just too much of a strain on her Charmeleon body.

"That was close," Zira noted of their escape.

"It sure was," Cyril said. Turning towards Zira, he said, "I wonder what that move was that you used. That was incredible!"

"I don't know what happened," Zira said, still shocked by the unusual move she'd used and the sheer power of it. She looked down at the strange helmet in her hands. "I really don't know."

"It would seem that artifact really boosted your attack power," Lance noted. "And that's just with one piece. I wonder what you'd be capable of with all six pieces."

As Zira considered Lance's words, a flash of lightning above followed by a loud boom interrupted her thoughts. She looked up at the sky, the rain pelting her face without mercy. It was quite the storm and every raindrop felt like an icicle impacting against her skin. Looking away, her eyes came to rest on a large Pokémon standing on a nearby cliff. Zira immediately recognized it as a Lugia. The Lugia stared at Team Dakota for a moment and then hopped into the air, flapping its wings as it adjusted its orientation.

"It's her…" Zira said, her eyes tracking the Lugia as it flew west.

Lance placed his hands on his hips. "Why do I get the feeling that she's connected to this somehow?"

It was a good question, but as the rain and wind continued to assault Zira's fire-type body, the thing foremost on her mind was shelter.

"Can we go now?" Zira asked.

Cyril and Lance both smiled at Zira.

"Yeah," Cyril said. "Let's go home."

* * *

Team Dakota arrived in Seneca Village, waterlogged and weary, several hours after leaving Kaiser's dungeon. Zira couldn't wait to get indoors. She longed for their warm, dry cabin and the shelter it provided from the cursed rain. But they still had to report to Cale. Their cabin would just have to wait.

The town square was almost totally deserted by the time Team Dakota arrived. The only Pokémon still present were those who had a type advantage against water. Zira figured all of her fellow fire-types had turned in for the night, possibly sitting by their fireplaces with a good book and a glass of wine. Zira sighed as she continued to shiver, wishing that she was curled up by a fireplace herself.

Upon entering the outpost, Team Dakota headed straight for Cale's office, closing the door behind them. Cyril and Lance informed him of what transpired during their mission. Lance handed over the badge that they'd recovered from one of the researchers and Cyril handed over the explorers' materials.

"That's so sad," Cale said, staring at the Andaran Federation badge in his hand. "I suppose we'll just have to console ourselves with the fact that those explorers won't be harming anyone again." He set the badge down on his desk. "You three did well under difficult circumstances. I'll see to it that you are commended for this." Cale picked up a wooden box that had been sitting on his desk and turned to face Zira. "I'll need the artifact, Zira."

Zira hesitated for a moment. She wanted to learn more about the helmet and whatever pieces that went along with it, but perhaps it was for the best that she parted ways with it for now. Zira took one last look at the strange helmet before placing it in the box. She had a feeling that she'd be seeing it again someday.

Cale placed a lid on the box and held it under his arm. "If there's nothing else, then you're dismissed," he said, turning away from the team.

Team Dakota left Cale's office, heading down the hallway and past the desks in the lobby as they made their way towards the exit. Zira could see through the open lobby door that it was still raining heavily outside. When they got to the door, Zira gazed outside at the soaked square. A flash of lightening lit up the sky, followed by a crack of thunder so loud that it made her flinch.

"You two head on home without me," Lance said, turning towards the medical room. "I'm going to get my back healed first."

Zira watched Lance pass through the door, getting one last look at the cuts and scars on his back. Those injuries would be gone the next time she saw him. Zira was relieved that Lance wouldn't have to live with those scars for the rest of his life. She turned her attention back to the storm raging outside. Zira groaned, knowing all too well the misery that she would once again have to endure.

"I'll race you back to the cabin," Cyril said, grinning.

Zira returned the grin with one of her own. "You're on."

Zira and Cyril burst out the door, sprinting through the square, past the fountain, and onto the street that would take them home. Despite the exertion, Zira was enjoying herself. The running distracted her from the biting cold that the rain inflicted upon her and Cyril seemed to enjoy running beside her. Zira knew that Cyril was letting her keep up. There was no way she could've matched the Grovyle's speed if he had been running all-out.

When Zira and Cyril reached their cabin, Cyril already had his key at ready. The instant he opened the door, they both rushed in, laughing. They placed their soaked bags on a set of hooks on the wall and then dried themselves off with a cloth.

"I hope I can sleep," Cyril said. "It's been quite the day."

"It sure has," Zira said. She wasn't going to be getting much sleep. She just had too much on her mind at the moment to even try. Perhaps something to pull her mind off the events of the day would help. She looked at the books sitting on the desk, her eyes coming to rest on _Rescue Team Essentials_. It wouldn't hurt to educate herself on the topic. "If you don't mind, I'm going to do some reading for a while."

"Don't stay up too late," Cyril said, hopping into his hammock. "It's back to the job board in the morning."

As Cyril made himself comfortable, Zira grabbed the book and plopped her butt on the worn chair in front of the desk. Upon opening the book, Zira was greeted by the Rescuer's Oath.

 _I am a rescuer. I pledge upon my honor, my life, my very soul to assist those in need and uphold the law._

Zira whispered the oath several times, wanting to commit it to memory. They were good words to live by. Zira turned the page to the table of contents and then to the introduction. As interesting as the content was, she was having trouble staying focused. Her mind kept drifting back to the dungeon, Kaiser and the artifacts he created, and to Athena the Lugia, who was still very much a mystery to her.

Where was all of this going?

* * *

Cale stood at the edge of town, just outside of the western entrance, waiting for Athena to arrive. He had the box containing the artifact tucked safely under his arm. He hoped that he wouldn't have to wait long. It was still raining, making him quite miserable due to his ground typing. He would continue to wait, however. Cale didn't believe that Athena would skip out on their meeting. A few minutes later, Cale heard something heavy land behind him. She had arrived.

"It's agreeable to see you again," Cale said.

"Likewise," Athena said. "I assume that's the artifact?"

"It is," Cale replied, holding the box outward.

Athena carefully grabbed the box with one of her massive hands and placed it in a bag that she wore around her waist.

"I assume you'll be taking that to Emerald City?" Cale asked.

"Given the current political situation on Andara, I don't think that would be wise," Athena said. "I'll be taking it to the Dakota City University instead. They're not exactly equipped to deal with this sort of thing, but at least it'll be safe there."

"Agreed," Cale said. "So it would seem that Zira is the key after all."

"Indeed," Athena said. "I have a request for you, Commander. Please see to it that Team Dakota doesn't collapse."

"I will," Cale said. "You have my word."


End file.
